


Ink-Stained Flowers

by Theatrically_scattered



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn, tags will change as story goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-08-14 09:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8008558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theatrically_scattered/pseuds/Theatrically_scattered
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith works as a florist at a small flower shop with Hunk and Shiro. One day, a tattoo parlor opens across from them. </p>
<p>He hates it.</p>
<p>But he guesses the tattoo artist isn't so bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Keith hated the shop across the street.   
  
Hate was a bit of a strong word. He didn’t hate it so much as he would rather have preferred to stare at paint dry than deal with the new place across from his job. A flower shop was more preferable than a tattoo shop, right?   
  
“Keith are you okay? You’ve been glaring at the new place so much I’m worried your face is gonna get stuck like that?”  
  
Keith gave the tattoo shop one last glare as before turning towards his co-worker.   
  
“Hunk, you’ve gotta think about how this will affect us. We could be run out of business by them!”   
  
Hunk laughed at the idea, patting Keith on the back. “I think you’re over-reacting dude. “  
  
“What’s so funny you two?” A deep voice asked.   
  
“Oh, Shiro!” Hunk exclaimed, chuckling the last of his laughing fit away before continuing, “Keith thinks the new shop across from us is going to put us out of business.” He said, wiping a few tears from his eyes.   
  
Shiro chuckled a bit at the idea, Keith huffing and muttering about him being the only one caring about the store’s business.   
  
“Keith I know you mean well, but you do have to admit that’s a little crazy.” Shiro told him, placing one of his new arrangements on a display table. “We’ve done pretty well for ourselves; it sounds like you don’t have faith anymore if a new business scares you.”   
  
Keith was about to reply when Hunk gasped suddenly, almost running out of the store. Curious and slightly frightened, Shiro and Keith followed him.  
  
Hunk was a little out of breath after crossing the road, but he forgot about his slightly tired muscles as he approached the person in front of the tattoo shop’s door. Before he could greet them, he noticed his co-worker and boss following him.   
  
“Hunk, what happened? Why did you run out?” Shiro asked.   
  
“Oh I-“ he started but was distracted by the sound of keys falling. Temporarily forgetting about the questions, he turned towards the person bending to pick up their keys.  
  
“Lance, hey man!” he greeted.   
  
The person, Lance, looked up at his caller. A second of registering the person, he stood up with the biggest grin on his face.  
  
“Hunk!” he exclaimed, giving him the biggest hug he could muster with his arms, “It feels like it’s been forever since I saw you! How are you dude?”  
  
“Haha, I’m doing alright! What about you?”  
  
“Hunk? You know this guy?” Keith cut in, temper slowly rising that they were wasting time talking to this person instead of working; a small bit of fear that maybe someone would sneak into the now empty store.  
  
“Oh, sorry.” Hunk said, detangling himself from the man. “Keith, Shiro, this is my best friend Lance.”  
  
Keith took in the appearance of this “friend” of Hunk’s: a guy who maybe had an inch or two more than himself in height dressed in torn jeans, a plain white v-cut shirt covered by a worn green jacket, warm skin that may or may not have reminded him of sunflower faces, short hair that looked incredibly soft, eyes that reminded him of bright blue hydrangeas, a small silver nose ring in his left nostril, and silver and blue piercings decorating his ears.   
  
He felt…something while looking at him. He settled on annoyance, fixing Lance with a look.  
  
“I’m Shiro, nice to meet you.” Shiro said, holding out his hand for Lance to shake. “I own the flower shop across from you.”   
  
“Takashi Arrangements? My mom loves you! She always talks about the flowers you show in the window and brings home a small bunch when she can.” Lance said, chuckling a bit as a smile played across his lips.  
  
Keith, ignoring the heat in his face, cleared his throat and suggested to no one in particular that they all had jobs to get back to. Lance checked his phone and agreed, saying his boss would probably break his arm if he didn’t open up shop soon.   
  
“It was nice seeing you again Hunk. Nice to meet you, Shiro, Keith.” He said, giving them all a smile as he unlocked the entrance and headed inside.

Keith was the first to turn and head back to the shop, his insides a mix of frustration of the new shop and intrigue at how Hunk knew someone as opposite looking as Lance. Every hour he stared at the shop across, hoping that somehow his staring would scare Lance and the other employees off and leave him in peace.   
  
“Back to glaring huh?” Hunk asked, spraying the window with cleaning solution.   
  
“I don’t glare.” Keith replied.   
  
“Hey Hunk, how do you know Lance? He doesn’t seem like…I don’t know, I just didn’t expect you to have a friend like that?” He asked, curiosity burning, shifting his eyes from the window to Hunk.  
  
Hunk chuckled before he answered. “I know him from school. We shared classes together, lived a few houses down from each other. He had to move away for a bit, but we ended up finishing school together. He might come off as annoying, but he’s a great guy. I think you two would get along well if you talked to him.”  
  
Before he could answer back, the sound of a bell alerted him to a customer. Actually, customers.   
  
Inspecting one of Shiro’s new arrangements was a woman. If Keith had to describe her with one word, he’d pick ethereal. She had hair like clouds, color the same as pale lavenders, arms covered in tattoos of flowers, a few Keith recognized with others foreign to him. Her complexion was like coffee, eyes a crystal ocean blue. Her outfit, a cropped long sleeve matched with a floral skirt, displaying a water-colored tattoo of chrysanthemums on her left calf, gave Keith the impression of royalty.   
  
At her side was someone else who was vastly different in appearance. Their hair reminded Keith of a mop, a few auburn locks sticking out. They were dressed in denim overalls, a black shirt underneath accompanied with brown work boots and a set of headphones accented with green hung around their neck. Tapping the tip of their boot on the ground, they re-adjusted their glasses as they told the woman something in a low voice.   
  
After a few minutes, they both walked to the register, the person in overalls handing a piece of paper to the woman, taking it with a manicured hand.   
  
“Do you think you can do this?” She said, handing the paper to Keith.   
  
Keith examined the paper. Almost chicken scratch style writing aside, he read back to the woman her order.  
  
“Two arrangements of white and red amaryllis, one blue morning glory pot, two arrangements of white roses and forget-me-nots, and three arrangements of purple and blue columbine flowers, correct?”  
  
“Yes. How long will this take you?”  
  
“About…two, three days?” He replied, working through the work of getting the flowers and having Hunk and Shiro arrange them.   
  
“Alright.” She said, reaching into the hidden pocket of her skirt to produce her wallet.   
  
“Your name, miss?” He asked, grabbing a pen to jot down the name of his customer.   
  
“Allura de Altea.”   
  
“Do you want to come in and pick them up or would you like us to deliver?”   
  
“Delivery, please.”  
  
“Where to?”  
  
“Altea’s Art.”   
  
“Oh!” Hunk called from his window, looking over at the pair. “You work at the tattoo shop?”  
  
She laughed before answering, “Yes, I’m the owner. And this is Pidge, my assistant who works the front desk.,” she said, waving a hand to Pidge.   
  
“We actually met your other employee, Lance.” Keith added.  
  
“Ah, our head piercing specialist and second tattooist.” Pidge stated, adjusting their glasses. “He does excellent work, so you should consider coming in.”   
  
“Pidge, you’re already in charge of advertising, you don’t have to advertise everywhere we go.”  Allura giggled, hand fixing a stray lock of hair.   
  
“I’m just trying to make sure we get customers.” They shot back.  
  
“In any case,” Allura said, eyes flitting between Hunk and Keith, “whether you decide to pay us a visit is up to you.”  
  
  
She started to head towards the door, grabbing the handle as Hunk called out to her.   
  
“It was nice meeting you!”   
  
Looking behind her, she gave him a warm smile. “You as well.”   
  
With her and Pidge gone, Hunk was immediately at Keith’s side, practically star-struck.  
  
“Man, can you believe how amazing she looked? I wonder if the tattoos helped add to it…do you think I’d look good with tattoos? Or maybe some piercings?”   
  
“I don’t know.” Keith answered, rewriting the order in legible writing for Shiro to read.   
  
“You should come with me on break to go check out the place!” Hunk suggested.   
  
Keith nearly ruined “columbine” in surprise with the sudden idea of how to spend his break.  
  
“Hunk, why the sudden interest?”  
  
“Uh, I don’t know. I’ve always really admired the skill that goes into tattoos; how someone can work with needles and paint so well and the people who can sit through them to have them. I thought maybe I’d look cooler with one? If you don’t want to go I understand.”  
  
“It’s alright,” Keith said, giving Hunk a pat on his back, “I’ll go with you.”  
  
Hunk lit up even more with Keith’s promise to go with him.   
  
“Thanks Keith! I’ll see you in an hour!” He said, taking the order slip to deliver to Shiro in the back.   



	2. Chapter 2

Their break came, and the two florists made their way to the tattoo parlor.   
  
Walking in, Keith and Hunk were in awe of the sudden change in atmosphere.  
  
Compared to their cozy and open flower store, the parlor’s waiting room had a “rebellious” aura. The wall behind the reception desk was covered in framed art. Each frame held a different subject and art style; ranging from realistic still life to dynamic mosaics. On the reception desk sat two thick binders, one open to reveal more art. The music playing through the speakers overhead gave Keith the feeling that he should be preparing to fight someone, leading him to admiring the singer and the emotion put in to spread to himself.   
  
“Oh, you’re from the flower shop. Welcome.” A voice greeted.   
  
Keith, pulled out of his mild daze, looked to find the speaker.   
  
It belonged to Allura’s assistant, Pidge. They were sitting at the desk, fingers tapping away at the keyboard, never seeming to glance up from the screen.   
  
“Yeah, we uh, came to look around. See what you have, y’know? I’ve never been in a tattoo parlor before.” Hunk admitted sheepishly, hand rubbing at the back of his neck.   
  
“Really? Would you like a tour?” Pidge asked, the sound of the clicks from the keyboard slowing slightly.   
  
“Could you? I mean, if you’re not busy, that is.” Hunk asked.  
  
Pidge gave the two a mildly annoyed look, “Oh ha ha. Does it really look like I’m busy?” They dead-panned before walking around the desk.  
  
Seeing the unease on Hunk’s face and the disgruntled look from Keith, they gave the two a sly smile. “I was joking. Follow me.”   
  
Following the assistant through the open doorway left of the desk, the pair were greeted with two salon chairs in front of mirrors, a wall mirror opposite of the chairs, and two boxed off rooms in the back of the area.   
  
“The area here is mainly used for people who come and get piercings. The wall mirror is for checking how their tattoos and piercings look. The boxed rooms are for tattoos or piercings done in more private areas, such as the stomach, chest, back, you get the idea.”  
  
“Why is there so much art?” Keith asked, noting that there seemed to be even more frames decorating the walls.   
  
“Well, we do have to display what we can offer to potential clients. If they see something that looks aesthetically pleasing, they’re more likely to come back and request it. Even better if they see something they know someone else will like, so they spread word.”  
  
“Oh.” Keith said, looking around at the various different pieces.   
  
“Did you get these from the internet?” Hunk asked.   
  
Pidge almost looked offended at the question, quietly taking in a breath as if to calm themselves.  
  
“…no. That’s false advertising. Everything you see is drawn by both Allura and Lance.” Pidge said.   
  
“Hey, where are they anyway?” Hunk asked.  
  
“Well, we did just open recently, but we don’t have all the supplies yet. Lance is off getting tattoo ink, studs, gauges, everything we need for tattoos and piercings, Allura is getting us coffee and lunch, but she’ll stop for more décor. She pretty much set up everything herself.”  
  
With that, a muffled call alerted the three that someone had arrived. A figure carrying multiple bags and some boxes stumbled into view.   
  
“Pidge? You there? I could really use some help over here.” They strained, their arms shaking more and more with each step they took.  
  
“Pfft, I don’t know why you carry so much when you’re so scrawny anyway.” Pidge said, walking over and taking a few boxes.   
  
“Look who’s talking. Just help me before I collapse and have to call in sick.”  
  
“Call in sick and Allura will drag you in anyway.”   
  
“I know.”   
  
As boxes and bags were placed at the stations and nearby shelves, the figure was revealed to be Lance, face slightly red and a light sheen of sweat could be seen on his brow.   
  
Wiping the sweat, he noticed the other two people standing next to Pidge.   
  
“Oh hey!” he chuckled, smile fixing itself on his face, “What brings you two here?”  
  
“Hunk was interested in tattoos and piercings after he saw your boss.” Keith told him.  
  
“Keith!” Hunk exclaimed, playfully giving him a shove.   
  
Lance laughed, hand brushing through his hair, “Allura tends to have that affect. It’s hilarious, she’s got full sleeves of tats and a watercolor on her leg, but she doesn’t have a single piercing. Says it’d hurt too much.”  
  
“Really?” Keith said, in slight awe that Allura had so many tattoos yet no piercing, if Lance was being honest.  
  
“Yeah. But for real,” Lance said, fixing Hunk with a semi-serious look, “you’re interested in getting something?”  
  
“I guess? I’ve always thought they were cool, I mean, just look at you! You’re so cool looking and, I don’t know, I’m just…” Hunk trailed off, eyes cast at the floor.  
  
Lance looked taken aback by the sudden compliment and reveal of his best friend’s thoughts. He stepped a bit closer to him, forcing Hunk to look at him.   
  
“Hey. You’re fine. You’re the best dude. If you really want a piercing, I won’t say no, but you have to be sure. These things are permanent, and they need a lot of care.” He told him, tone steady, never breaking contact.   
  
Hunk sniffed, looking deep in thought. After some minutes had passed, he gave Lance his answer.   
  
“I’ll think about  it some more.”   
  
“Good.” Lance said, a gentle smile on his face. “Better to know than come in emotionally compromised and regret it later.”   
  
“That happens?” Keith asked, hoping to divert the situation from the personal feeling it had taken.  
  
“Oh you have no idea. It’s not so much emotional impulses than it is that they’re drunk. They seem sober at first, but the more they sit there under the needle, the more you see how drunk they really are. Can’t tell you how hard it is dealing with a drunk client who nearly runs out with an unpaid navel and chest piercing.” He sighed, scratching the back of his head.   
  
“Have they tried fighting you?” Hunk asked, head slightly cocked to the side.   
  
“Sometimes, but they’re too drunk to land a hit. Usually they just yell a lot before passing out.”  
  
“Hello!” A voice called, footsteps getting closer.   
  
“Oh my god it’s an angel.” Lance said, walking over to Allura and grabbing the tray of cups she held in her hand.   
  
“If that’s your attempt at getting a raise, you’ll have to try a bit harder than that.” She smirked, placing a bag down as she passed the tray to Lance.   
  
“I’d be better off asking the sky to rain.” He shot back, holding out the tray to Pidge.  
  
“Oh,” Allura said, noticing the other two standing near one of the stations, “I didn’t see you! What brings you here?”   
  
“We were just interested in seeing the place. Neither of us have been in a tattoo parlor before.” Keith answered.   
  
“I already gave them a tour, and Hunk sounds like he might be interested in a piercing.” Pidge told her, searching the bag and pulling out an item wrapped in paper.   
  
“How lovely! However, as you can see, we aren’t totally set up yet. If you come back in about a week, we’ll be ready to have you then.” She informed them, small smile gracing her features.   
  
Keith checked his phone, seeing that they only had eight minutes left for their break.  
  
“Hunk, we ought to get going; break is almost over.”  
  
“Really? Aww, I wanted to hang out some more.” Hunk said, pout on his face.   
  
Allura laughed, “We appreciate you visiting. Feel free to come back whenever you like.”  
  
Thanking them for inviting them back and the tour, the florists and tattoo workers walked to the door.   
  
Before opening the door, Keith looked to Allura.   
  
“Is it true you don’t have any piercings?”  
  
Allura was surprised at the sudden question. “Come again?”  
  
“Lance told us you don’t have any piercings, even though you have so many tattoos.”  
  
Allura stared at them for a moment before bursting into laughter. She held her stomach as she bent over from the laughter, tears threating to escape from her eyes.  
  
Everyone stared at her as she laughed; after calming down, she looked to them before answering in the most serious voice she could muster. “Of course I have piercings.”   
  
“What? You told me you didn’t!” Lance accused.   
  
Allura pulled back her hair to reveal a set of crystal studs in her ears.  
  
“When did you-“  
  
“I have my secrets.” She said, knowing smirk on her face.  
  
“Then why?”  
  
“I knew it’d bother you.” She told him bluntly.  
  
Now it was Pidge’s turn to laugh. Their laughter spread to Hunk, Keith, Allura and even Lance started to chuckle.   
  
Calming down, Hunk opened the door to let Keith and himself out.   
  
Back at their shop, Hunk started to head to the back as Keith took his spot at the register again. Before heading back, Hunk stopped at the register.   
  
“Thanks again for going with me.”  
  
“Don’t mention it.”   
  
“So…what do you think of Lance?”  
  
“I’m…sorry?” Keith asked, caught off guard by the question.  
  
“When we first met him earlier, you didn’t seem to like him. And I told you he’s a good guy once you talk to him. Seeing as we spent our break with him, surely something changed, right?”  
  
Hunk was right. At first, Keith couldn’t care less about Lance; but after talking to him, seeing his concern for Hunk and looking out for his best interests, he knew something was different.  
  
“I guess he’s not as bad as I first thought.” He finally settled on saying.  
  
“Yeah, he’s not.” Hunk smiled, giving Keith a wave before heading to work on the arrangements.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so im really hoping you're all enjoying this! im really excited to write this fic ! comments are always welcome, and if u wanna shoot me an ask, just send a message at my blog, data-roxass.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

Days passed, customers came, and each of the florists all did their part to complete the order put in by Allura.   
  
As the hour came to deliver the order, Shiro was frantically moving bouquets to their small van, with Hunk moving boxes of leis and flower crowns to the van as well.  
  
“Uh, what’s happening?” Keith asked, moving outside to investigate.   
  
“I’m sorry Keith, but I just remembered that I had a delivery to run today, and I need Hunk to come with me.” Shiro said, marking off his list as he examined the flowers.  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“ It’s an event, and with the order, I need him to carry the boxes as I take the bouquets.”  
  
As Shiro started the car, Hunk came to a stop in front of Keith.  
  
“I know we’re supposed to deliver the flowers, but I have to go with Shiro. I’m super sorry dude!” He apologized, opening the side door to watch the flowers making sure Shiro’s driving wouldn’t ruin them.  
  
Giving a small wave at the retreating van, Keith sighed before heading back inside to move the flowers he had to carry out front.  
  
After moving the morning glory to the door, he was surprised to see Lance heading his way.   
  
“Hey Keith. What’s going on?” he asked, pocketing his phone.   
  
“Moving the flowers Allura ordered to the front to make it easier for me. Hunk had to leave with Shiro to help with a delivery.” He answered.   
  
“Worry not my fine friend, I’m here to help.” Lance declared, patting the pocket holding his phone, “Hunk texted me to come by and give you a hand.”  
  
“I can handle this.” He said, slightly irritated that Hunk texted Lance to help. He was perfectly capable of making this delivery himself, thank you very much.   
  
“Dude, I saw you struggle with that plant for a good five minutes. I don’t mind helping, so just let me.”  
  
Before he could refuse again, Lance was already grabbing at the pot, only getting in a few steps before setting it down again, breathing heavily.   
  
“Are you going to help lift this or what?” He asked in between breaths.  
  
Resigning himself to Lance’s help, Keith grabbed the other side of the pot as they moved it across the street.   
  
After placing the plant inside the parlor, Keith told him that he’d be fine since the rest where fairly manageable, but instead ended up with Lance following him and taking the rest of the flowers to the parlor.  
  
“Did Allura say anything about where she would want these?” Keith asked, setting an arrangement down on the reception desk.   
  
“Hmm…I think she said she wanted two on the reception, one by her office, and the rest in the back.”   
  
Nodding in confirmation, Keith set to placing the flowers where Lance had told him.   
  
After finishing, he was about to tell Lance he was going to leave, he found Lance concentrating on a paper in front of him, brows furrowed as he scribbled the pencil along the surface.   
  
Keith inched slowly towards him, not wanting to disturb him as he peeked at the drawing.   
  
He was greeted with a sketch of a moon in a starry sky, water reflecting the crescent and the stars, making the water glitter like jewels; beneath the water was a person, gazing up as their air bubbles floated up, fish swimming by, swaying seaweed housing seahorses, mackerel, and more fish Keith couldn’t recognize. In the corner of the scene, hibiscus flowers accented the atmosphere.   
  
Lance paused, hand stopping in the middle of adding detail to a hibiscus leaf.  
  
“You want to take a seat?”  
  
“Oh, uh…” Keith trailed off, backing up from Lance, “Sorry. You just looked like you were concentrating; I didn’t want to disturb you.”   
  
Lance laughed before setting down the sketch, “It’s fine. I just wanted to get the idea down; I can always work on it more later. That was my break anyway. Now I got to get back to work.” He said, huffing lightly as he lifted himself up.  
  
“Work?”  
  
“Yeah, I have to get all the equipment set up and store the rest of everything.” Lance told him, opening a box and setting aside the needle packs.  
  
“I’m helping. And don’t bother telling me no; you helped, now I’m helping you.”  
  
Lance momentarily froze in shock as he looked at Keith before letting out a small chuckle. “If you want to, I won’t stop you.”  
  
Taking his phone out his pocket, he started up a mellow sounding song as he unpacked the rest of the materials inside; setting aside packs of needles, studs, gauges, rings.  
  
“Here, you can put this in the drawer in the other station.” He said, holding out a pack of studs.  
  
Keith reached for it, his fingers brushing against Lance’s. Feeling the smooth fingers, Keith quickly pulled away as if he touched a burning stove.  
  
“You okay?” Lance asked.  
  
‘Yeah…” Keith muttered, grabbing the pack and looking away, trying to will away the red in his face.   
  
_‘Do I look lonely? I see the shadows on my face. People have told me I don’t look the same…’_  
  
Hearing that cabaret style voice, Keith remembered Hunk saying that Lance was a local until he moved for a bit. The thought that maybe Lance was different from before the move crossed his mind, and since Hunk never told him why Lance moved, he thought it best to ask Lance himself.   
  
“So…Hunk told me you know each other from school?”  
  
“Yeah. We got paired together for a project and started talking to each other. He was pretty cool, so we just sort of hung out after that.” He said, placing a few packs of gauges inside one of the station’s drawers.   
  
“He also said that you moved away for a while. Did something happen?”  
  
For a moment, he thought he saw Lance’s profile flash from anger to melancholy before fixing himself with a small tired smile.  
  
“You could say that. It was family related.” He said, closing a drawer a little more harshly than he had intended.    
  
Keith felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the sudden shift of Lance’s mood. He mumbled a “sorry” as Lance messed with his phone, playing a soft techno sounding song.  
  
“It’s…it’s ok. Sorry if I seemed upset, you were just curious and I sorta snapped. Sorry.” Lance said, rubbing a stud on his ear nervously as the singer’s seemingly monotone voice filled the air between the two.   
  
They worked in silence as the music filled the void between them, Lance occasionally singing a few phrases.   
  
_‘Temperature is dropping, I’m not sure if I can see this ever stopping, shaking hands with the dark part of my thoughts, no…’_  
  
Keith noticed Lance stopped moving, unmoving from his position in front of a new box he was opening. His fingers on the flaps were tapping along the surface lightly, his eyes focused on some object in the distance. His lips moved slightly, sound escaping from them; Keith strained to hear.  
  
“…repeating simple phrases, someone holy insisted, I want the markings made on my skin to mean something to me again, hope you haven’t left without me…”  
  
Keith had no time to process the lyrics he heard as Allura walked in, carrying two cups of coffee.   
  
“Lance, I brought us something from- oh! Keith, what a nice surprise! How are you?” She asked, seemingly unaware of Lance’s quiet disposition.   
  
“I’m alright. I just delivered the flowers you ordered.”  
  
“Ah, no wonder the place looked livelier. Thank you, here, you deserve a tip.” She said, setting down the cups and reaching in her purse to pull out her wallet.   
  
“No, it’s fine, really.” Keith started to insist, being cut off as Lance chuckled.  
  
“If Allura says she wants to tip you, just let it happen. The minute she says she’s going to do something, you can’t stop her.” He told him, smile on his face.   
  
Keith felt as if he was staring, but couldn’t help but wonder how Lance looked so happy when just a minute ago he seemed dazed and somber.   
  
After storing the bills Allura gave him, Keith decided it was time he left. Telling them this, Lance said he’d walk him out, which Allura accepted as she set to work on setting up her tattoo equipment.   
  
At the entrance, Lance sped ahead to hold the door open for the departing florist.   
  
“After you, and thank you for your patronage good sir.” He said in a mock posh voice.   
  
“Thanks.” Keith chuckled.  
  
Lance grinned at him as he walked out, turning to wave at him as he made his way back to the shop.   
  
Back inside, he found Hunk sweeping the floor as Shiro was setting a lei out for display.   
  
“Keith, welcome back.” Shiro greeted him.   
  
“When did you guys get back?” Keith asked.   
  
“Uh…I think eight minutes ago? I don’t really know.” Hunk said. “Oh, that reminds me, how’d the delivery go? I texted Lance to help you since I couldn’t be here.”  
  
“Oh. Uh, it was fine. Allura gave me a tip, so that was nice.”   
  
“That’s good to hear.” Shiro said, his watch beeping to grab his attention.   
  
“Ah, I have to make another run. I have to pick up more flowers; Hunk, do you mind coming with me again?”  
  
“Sure thing Shiro! Sorry to leave again Keith, but try and hold down the fort while we’re gone!” Hunk said as he followed Shiro out to the van again.   
  
Keith let out a breath as he took up Hunk’s broom. Midway, he slowed as he brought to look at the tattoo parlor.   
  
He couldn’t help but wonder about Lance’s behavior today, curious as to what happened in his past that upset him when Keith asked about it. How he could quickly hide the seriousness with a smile. And then, why did he feel flustered just by touching his hand? He felt he was even more confused than he was from the start.  
  
Keith decided he’d try to get to know Lance more. If anything, just to sate his curiosity, not because he had worn that expression a few times himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took me like nearly 2 hours to think of the sketch for lance lmao ;u;
> 
> songs mentioned are death of a bachelor by p!atd and doubt by 21 pilots 
> 
> hope you enjoy this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

After the delivery, Keith found himself staring at the parlor when the shop was empty. As it first opened officially, he saw a few groups of people go in and come out. Surprisingly, most of them came to the shop afterwards and bought quite a few flowers and flower crowns. They were now starting to regularly run out of flower crowns that Shiro had to put in large orders before the week ended.

One day, Hunk came in rubbing his ear, grimacing slightly.

“Hunk? Something the matter?” Keith asked.

“H-huh? Oh hey Keith! Check it out.” Hunk grinned, walking over to him and displaying his ears.

“You got piercings?”

“Yep! Well, these are temporary, I’m getting gauges, but I can’t get them unless I’ve got a piercing already.”

“Gauges? What are those?”

“Piercings, but they stretch out the hole since they’re bigger. Lance said he’d look for flower gauges and put an order in if he found any.” Hunk explained as his phone pinged. Fishing it from his pocket, his eyes lit up as he looked at the screen.

“Keith, look!” He exclaimed, facing his phone towards him.

On the screen was a picture of pressed yellow roses in circle containers.

“These are gauges?”

“Yeah!” Hunk pulled his phone back, fingers tapping a response to Lance.

“Looks like I can go back in about a week or two. He has to remove the piercing in a few days and give me time to let the skin heal.” He said aloud.

“Still, I can’t believe you got a piercing. How is it?”

“Not gonna lie, I was really nervous. I got a needle pierced through my skin, so that hurt. But Lance was really nice, talking to me the whole time to distract me. He was really professional.”

The ringing of the doorbell ended their conversation.

Pidge walked in, looking around and wandering towards the different arrangements. Keith and Hunk both found this strange; Pidge had visited the shop before, why are they acting like this was their first time?

They walked towards the flower crown displays, stared for a bit, then walked over to the register.

“Excuse me, how much will four flower crowns cost?”

Keith noticed that their voice was a little different, but couldn’t find the word to describe it. The air about them seemed friendlier than usual, a smile on them as they waited for the cost.

“Uh…$16.89?” He answered.

“Ah good! I think I have a twenty in here somewhere…” They said as they searched their pockets.

Giving a triumphant laugh as they held up the bill, they placed it on the counter as he grabbed the boxes. Boxes in their hands they were on their way to the door as…Pidge came in again?

“Oh, you got them.”

“Yeah, sorry it took a while, this place is amazing! All the flowers are so beautiful…”

“Wait, what’s going on? Why am I seeing two of you?” Hunk asked, confusion blatant on his face.

The Pidge holding the flowers gave a small laugh before answering.

“Sorry, my name’s Matt; I’m Pidge’s older brother!”

"What??" They both asked in unison.

"Haha, yeah, I sometimes run errands for Pidge when they're busy with work or cover for them. I actually work at the coffee shop next street over." He explained, fixing his glasses after handing the boxes to Pidge.

"Thanks again Matt."

"Don't worry about it! I'm always here to help pigeon." He sang as he took out phone.

"Uh oh, I gotta go or else I'll be late. Nice meeting you, love your shop!" Matt yelled behind him as he sprinted out the door.

"Well...that was certainly something." Hunk stated, still dazed by the fact Pidge had a brother.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pidge asked, fixing Hunk with a cold glare.

"U-uh, I mean, it's just surprising! I thought it was actually you until you walked in...I never would've thought you had a brother is all!"

Pidge made a noise of indifference, glare melting as if to say they were satisfied with Hunk's reply.

"Um, was there a reason you need the crowns? You could've just order them along with the arrangements from before." Keith interjected, hoping to fix the awkward mood settling in from Hunk's comment.

"I know, but Allura came up with a design idea a few hours ago, so this was really short handed. I was in charge of getting the crowns, Lance is getting the second part of it. But since I come in later, I had Matt come in; he goes in earlier than me because of his job."

The sudden mysterious sounding ringtone drew their attention as Pidge fumbled to get their phone.

"Yeah?...Oh my god really?...ugh, why did you go that far?...dammit Lance, fine. Just try and hurry." Pidge huffed, angrily stuffing their phone back into the depths of their pocket.

"Lance? Is he ok?" Hunk asked.

"No, the dummy went and got stuck in really bad traffic." They answered, pinching the bridge of their nose and sighing, "Allura is not going to be happy..."

"I'm not going to be happy about what?"

Pidge nearly screamed when their boss appeared next to them.

"Hey Allura; how are you?" Keith greeted.

"I'm ok. I'm actually really happy! I had the idea of incorporating a well known aesthetic in our parlor! Skulls and flowers!" She exclaimed, hands clapping in place in front of her.

"Here's the flowers..." Pidge said, handing the flowers to Allura.

"And where's Lance? I sent him to get some prop human skulls; shouldn't he be back by now?"

"Uh...Lance is going to be a little late. Apparently the stores here didn't have any skulls so he had to go to the next city over and got stuck in bad traffic."

"I...I see..." Allura said, mood darkening, face taking on sadness.

"It'll be fine!" She said, trying to smile again, "Lance doesn't have any customers for another hour so that should give him some time."

"But you're always on him to be on time. You're not mad?" Pidge asked, brows raised in surprise.

"No. That city, Balmera, its rough. So I understand."

An unspoken feeling of understanding settled throughout the shop, Hunk and Keith both growing uncomfortable despite it.

"It sounds like you've been there before." Hunk said.

"I have. I lived there for a few years. It was fine, but it just got bad." Allura sighed, eyes falling on to the flowers, a forlorn expression on her face. "It was a good place, but it changed so quickly and it just wasn't livable for me anymore. I brought it up with my father and uncle, and we moved here."

"Oh..." Hunk said, eyes cast to the ground, "sorry." He mumbled.

"Don't be. You didn't mean any harm." Allura smiled.

"I think we should get back to the parlor now. It's almost time for us to open." Pidge said, checking their watch.

"Right! Well, if you'll excuse us..."

As they turned towards the door, they stopped at the sound of a faint motor. Turning their heads towards the window, the noise grew louder, as did the sound of...music?

A dull red motorcycle came into view, its rider hidden by their pitch black helmet. As they closed their distance, the words coming from the radio grew clearer.

_'....ow where I'm going but I don't think I'm coming home.'_

As they pulled up front to the parlor, they placed their bike in park as they turned, inspecting a box that had been strapped to the empty space behind the rear by a makeshift rope.

Seeing that the box was still there, the rider went to removing their helmet, hands fiddling with the latches of said helmet.

_'This is the road to ruin, and we're starting at the end.'_

Removing the helmet, the rider exposed himself as Lance; shaking sweat off his brow and running a hand through his hair, he stood up from the seat and placed his helmet on the bike seat.

_'Let's be alone together, we could stay young forever, scream it from the top of your lungs lungs lungs, say yeah...'_

Lance turned his head to stare at the radio, letting the chorus finish before killing it. Pocketing the keys, he started to untie the rope holding the box he had.

"Lance!" Allura called, heading out, "You're back! Pidge told me you'd be stuck in traffic for a while."

Lance chuckled, pausing in his actions to face Allura, "I keep this old thing in the back in case of emergencies. Really helps when I don't wanna deal with traffic jams." He said, smile as he patted the bike's handle.

As the others headed outside, Lance gave them a welcoming smile as they gathered around him.

"Never knew you had one of these." Pidge said, examining the bike with intrigue.

"Well, now you do! I've had it for about two years now; it's a hand-me-down but it runs great."

"I never thought you'd get into bikes. I thought it'd just be cars and bicycles for you." Hunk laughed.

"Hey, whatever works right? It's not mine. Belonged to my brother. He doesn't need it anymore." Lance replied, face taking on small pain as he hoped no one heard the bite in his last statement.

"Oh yeah, how is he? How's your sister and little siblings? I don't see them and you didn't really bring them up." Hunk asked.

"You have siblings? How many?" Keith asked.

"Oh uh, I, uh. Yeah. I've got an older brother and sister, two younger brothers and a little sister." Lance said, his anxiety bubbling in his chest. "Charlie and Serena are my older siblings; Alex, Roger and Jazmine are my little siblings."

"How are they? I don't think I saw them at school when you moved back. Weren't they only a grade above you? So what happened?" Hunk asked, curious to know.

"Uh, that's..." Lance trailed off, words trapped in his throat; clenching a fist behind his back to trap the water in his eyes as images flashed behind them.

"I think that's enough of that." Allura cut off, patting Lance firmly on his back. "We've got to get to work soon, and I don't think it's wise to leave your store unattended." She said, communicating to the florists that they were done.

"Oh right! Sorry, let's talk again on break!" Hunk cheerily called as he started to head back.

"See you later Hunk!" Lance called, turning to grab the box of fake human skulls. Box now in hand, he headed towards the entrance but stopped. Why was Keith still here?

"Keith? Did you need something?" Lance asked.

"Oh, no. Your bike is nice. I wanted to say that earlier but I didn't really get a chance to."

Lance chuckled as he gave a thanks.

"You wanna take a ride with me sometime? I'll wear the helmet so your locks can be free in the wind." He said, giving a sly wink.

"What?! No!" Keith shouted, face red as roses, "It's dangerous for two people to ride those isn't it?? So no!"

Lance could feel his gut busting as he took in Keith's reaction. His tears from earlier came from his eyes, but he didn't mind. They'd just come out later, so better to just get them out as laughing tears.

"I was kidding. And no, it's not dangerous if you hold on tight enough." He said after calming down.

"Very funny." Keith grumbled, arms crossed as he avoided eye contact.

"Not as funny as you." Lance sang as he headed inside.

Keith stormed back to the shop, slamming a box of peonies he had to weave into crowns on to the counter.

"Woah Keith! Are you okay?" Hunk yelped, nearly dropping the crown of marigolds he was working on.

"I'm fine." He practically growled, cheeks still burning.

"No you're not. What happened?"

"Lance happened! He said he'd offer me a ride but I'm sensible and declined since it'd be dangerous and then he calls me funny. Safety isn't funny, it's serious!"

Hunk watched the angry florist fume while delicately chaining together the flowers the same color as his face. He snorted at the sight.

"Not you too!"

"I'm sorry man. It's just, that's just how he is. He just offered you a ride with a side of flirt. It's part of his personality."

"I think he should get rid of it." He mumbled, finishing a crown and putting it to the side.

"How about this; why don't we go somewhere else for break? What about the cafe Matt mentioned?"

Keith sighed, knowing Hunk looked forward to seeing Lance on his breaks.

"No, you go hang with Lance. I'll go to the cafe."

"Keith, its fine, I don't mind going with you."

"Hunk..." Keith thought about it. Hunk wasn't going to relent, and he'd make him feel bad if he just stayed at the shop during break. If he went, he'd have to face Lance again, and he didn't feel like having his heart bang against his ribs and face overheat again.

Then he got an idea.

Hunk would never abandon a friend in need of a buddy to spend their break with. However, if Hunk thought Keith would join him and Lance for break, but Keith just _happened_ to have stepped out the second Hunk was distracted by Lance...

Hunk wouldn't notice him leaving, right?

"No, it's alright. I'll go with you to hang with Lance. Thanks for offering another option, but I'll be ok."

"Are you sure?" Hunk asked, caught off guard at Keith's relent.

"Yeah."

Accepting his answer, Hunk went back to his flowers, as did Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this was past 2k so that means there's a lot more in store!! I just gotta cut this off here. 
> 
> Song playing on Lance's radio is Alone Together by Fall Out Boy (listen you can't tell me that song wasn't meant to be played riding down a highway on a bike) 
> 
> [feel free shoot me a hey at me blog data-roxass.tumblr.com !! And as always ty kittens-for-fists.tumblr.com for putting up w my shit and being my beta reader!]


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Hunk had entered the tattoo parlor and headed towards the tattoo area, Keith booked it out of the parlor. He felt bad about running, but he knew Hunk wasn't going to take no as an answer.

He had reached the street where Pidge's brother work was pretty quickly. He had always prided himself in his athletic skills. Being quick to outrun kids at school and make it to places before they closed was super helpful.

Thinking about it, he never mentioned the name. Keith felt lost until a small chalkboard sign drew his attention.

_ 'Today's Special: Chile Mochas. Heat up your experience even more by trying our 3 Alarm Sandwich!' _

Eyebrow raised in intrigue, Keith opened the door.

The inside was a warm chocolate color, smells of vanilla, cinnamon, peppers, everything he could imagine hit his nose. Small lamp lights hung from the ceiling above the tables. In the back were shelves filled with books, labels pointing towards where certain titles were lighter than their original color was. At the counter was a display case of pastries and sandwiches, behind on the wall was a list of different drinks.

"Oh, hey!"

Keith was snapped out of his examination by a voice. Looking towards it, he saw Matt making his way to him.

"Welcome! It's nice to see you again!" Matt smiled.

"Y-yeah. Wow, this place is amazing." Keith breathed out, eyes still wide, gazing around again.

Matt smiled, "I'm glad you think so too."

"Matthew! Who's that, a customer?" An accented voice called.

Looking over to the counter, it was a man with red hair and a finely kept mustache. For some reason, Keith was reminded of some old cartoon character looking at him.

"Ah, yeah."

"Well don't just stand there, show him around! What would you like lad? A frappucino? Mocha? Latte?"

Keith was lost, as the man went on offering other drinks he had never heard of. Iced coffee? Coffee is hot, why would you put ice in it?

"Can I just get a regular black coffee please?" He managed to get in before he could be even more confused.

"Sure thing! It'll be done when Matthew finishes showing you around. Go on then!" He called as he went to the machine behind him.

"Right!" Matt chirped as he led Keith to the shelves in the back.

"The owner loves books, so he decided to incorporate them in his shop. He has a bit of everything, fiction, sci-fi, thrillers, non-fiction, everything. You can rent the books while you're here for a dollar an hour. Books with a crown sticker on the spine are books he enjoys the most, and he's got a pretty good taste in every genre. He always makes sure to have the latest books, so he'll give customers a chance to grab a book to keep for free before he donates them to the library." Matt said, gesturing to the shelves with an open hand.

He walked Keith through the aisles of books before the man at the counter called them over.

"Here you are my boy!" He said, cheerily handing Keith the piping hot drink.

"Thanks..."

"Names Coran! And yours?"

"Keith."

"Ah such a nice name for a strapping young man as yourself! Don't you think so Matthew?"

"Please just call me Matt." Matt muttered, fidgeting with his glasses with a look of embarrassment.

The door opening caught their attention.

Coming through was a girl with earth colored skin, chestnut hair kept short up to her chin; giant silver hoop earrings popped against her complexion. She looked over to Coran with fawn brown eyes and gave a smile that could make flowers bloom.

"Hi Coran. I'm not late for my shift, am I?"

"Of course not Shay! You're just in time to clock in."

"Oh thank goodness!" She breathed, making her way behind the counter, "I was so worried; my brother stayed up late last night so I stayed up to make sure he went to sleep."

"You're such a good sister Shay, what would your brother do without you?" Matt said, mockingly wiping away tears of pride.

"I aspire to be as good a sibling like you are, Matt." Shay responded with a giggle as she tied on her apron.

Matt was about to respond as the door opened again; this time a person Keith dreaded at seeing at this time.

"Keith! What the heck dude?" Hunk said, crossing his arms with a hurt expression.

"Hunk, I'm sorry, I knew you weren't going to give up; and I know how much you look forward to seeing Lance. I didn't want to ruin your break..." Keith said, eyes cast down to a grainy circle in the counter as he gripped an arm nervously.

The silence that fell after his sentence was suffocating that Keith thought he could cut through it with a knife.

Keith thought for a moment that the silence was actually surrounding him as he felt big arms wrap around him.

"Honestly Keith, you could've said something, you small nerd."

"Yeah yeah.." Keith said into Hunk's body as he returned the hug.

"Well!" Shay clapped, snapping their attention towards him, "How about a nice hot drink to melt away the sad? Can I get you a hot chocolate? Or maybe a caramel mocha?"

"Uh" Hunk looked lost, and Keith could notice the small color in his face. He had to fight to keep himself from laughing.

"S-sure I'll have a hot mocha-I mean a caramel chocolate- I mean-"

Shay giggled, and Keith saw Hunk's face grow redder.

"I'll just give you a hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel drizzle, sound good?" She offered, blinding Hunk with her flower blooming smile.

"Uh, y-yeah!" He managed to spit out.

Smiling, Shay turned to prepare the drink as Coran looked to the door. He smiled at the next person who came in, walking over to the end of the counter to speak with them. If it weren't for that, Keith and Hunk would never have guessed someone else had come in.

"Hello again dear. Usual strawberries and cream frappucino?" He asked in a kind voice, as if he spoke loudly he'd scare them off.

He was talking to a girl. Fair skinned but with some color. She wore her hair in a ponytail, showing off her inky black hair that swirled into curls. Her eyes were like ocean bottle glass, framed by plain black glasses. She looked to be about high school freshman age, from Keith's guess.

She nodded, reaching down in her bag to find money. Searching for a bit she produced a worn blue wallet and pulled out a bill to hand over.

"Oh hey, Jazmine!" Matt called, moving over to her. She looked over in surprise but gave a small smile as she took in who spoke to her.

"We got a new package of books today; do you want to come over and look at the ones we're giving away?"

Nodding, she started to walk as she caught sight of Keith and Hunk. She inched closer to Matt, quickly avoiding eye contact with the two florists.

"Hunk!"

Hunk looked over and Keith felt his stomach drop at who just came in.

"Oh Lance!"

"What the cheese dude? You said you'd be back in three and-" Lance stopped midway as he caught sight of the girl's back.

"Jazmine!"

Jazmine turned, and her eyes lit up as she approached Lance. No sooner had she gotten close to him that she wrapped her arms around him.

"Hola Lance! Cómo estás?" She spoke, her voice like a bird's tweet.

"Estoy bien, y tú? Hey, porque no estás en escuela? Y dónde estás tú hermanos?"

"Escuela termino temprano hoy, y Alex y Roger fui a casa de un amigo."

Lance sighed, patting her head as he freed himself.

"Can you text them for me please?"

"Ok." She said as she took out her phone.

"Wait, Lance, this is Jazmine? She's so big now!" Hunk said.

Lance looked over to Hunk, fond smile growing on his lips. "Yeah, but she's still the baby." He said as he slightly ruffled her hair.

"Lance, please." She complained, fingers tapping away at the screen.

"Wait, this is your sister, right?" Keith asked, recalling the info Lance gave about his family hours ago.

"Yup. Last kid, so she's spoiled silly."

"No es verdad.."

"Ay si como no!" He laughed. "Oh, why are you out of school early? And how come you didn't text me?"

"There was a small fire," she answered, pocketing her phone, "No one was hurt, but it involved wiring, so they sent us home to run checks on the rest of it. I was gonna wait until you got off work. I didn't want to bother you..."

"You don't bother me."

"You can say that but that won't stop me from thinking it."

Lance sighed in resignation as Coran called her over to claim her drink.

"C'mon, I'll take you home."

"You're still working! I'm okay with waiting here."

"No, it's fine. I have the bike, so it'll be fast."

Jazmine looked conflicted. She glanced between her brother and Matt. After spinning her drink a few times she turned to Matt.

"Will the books still be here tomorrow?"

"Uh-huh, so don't worry. I'll save them for you!"

"Ok...then let's go." She said, facing her brother.

"Oh, sorry Hunk. I know you wanted to hang out but," Lance started, looking apologetic.

"It's okay dude! I understand, so don't worry. There's always tomorrow!" Hunk replied.

"Thanks." He said, small tap on his arm a sign from his sister that she was ready.

As the two headed for the door, Jazmine slowed.

"Do you mind if we visit Serena today?"

Lance stopped dead in his tracks. Hand hovering above the handle, he turned his head slightly to look at his sister.

"...sure. After work, okay?"

She made a small noise of agreement before following her brother out of the shop.

Shay's clear voice was enough to grab Hunk's attention, but Keith remained glued to where he stood.

Lance was loud. Full of himself, confident, arrogant even. He didn't expect such a quiet looking sister who could blend into the background.

And that face when she brought up that other person. 'Serena.' Who reacts with fear to a sibling? Fear and...sadness. Keith was confused.

Now he was determined to make a plan.

A plan to better understand the confusion that is Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen you can't tell me Coran wouldn't call people by their full name. 
> 
> Also bonus points if you can guess the character Keith thinks of while lookin at Coran. 
> 
> [i hope I did ok with the descriptions of Shay and lance's little sister! remember to rate the fic comment the fic and subscribe for more fics similar to this one, see ya]


	6. Chapter 6

Keith had no idea how he was going to talk to Lance.

He wasn't going to over complicate this; the best way to better understanding Lance was just talking to him. But there was the problem. He had no idea what he could even talk about with him. He didn't know anything about him other than he has siblings, he rode a bike, and that he moved.

While Keith was having a small inner meltdown over this complication, the source of it walked in with three other people in tow.

He recognized Jazmine. She was trailing behind Lance, white earbuds in place as she looked around the shop, curls of ink swaying with each turn.

At her sides were two boys. One was fair skinned like her, his hair short and styled into brown spikes. He was about a foot taller than Jazmine, from what he could tell. He had bright green eyes that reminded Keith of a cat. The small goatee he sported told Keith that he had already hit puberty.

The other boy was a few shades darker than Lance, matching brown eyes and hair color like Jazmine, identical hair style as the other boy. He was about a few inches taller than Jazmine, and he had thin rimmed glasses hanging from the collar of his shirt.

"Oh, hey Keith!" Lance called, bringing a hand up in greeting.

"Hey." Keith called back.

"Weird seeing me here, right? I don't know if you remember, this is my little sis Jazmine," he said, patting her on the head as she glanced at Keith before burning a hole in the floor; "and these two are my little brothers: Alex and Roger."

The two brothers only looked at Keith before splitting up and walking around the shop.

"Did you need something in particular or..?" Keith asked, wondering why Lance decided to drop by and why he bothered to bring his siblings.

"Yeah, we need some flowers. White and some other colors." Lance said.

"Lance, do you even know the names of the flowers?" Roger, the brown haired one, called from the other side of the shop.

"Uh."

"This is gonna take forever!" He groaned.

"Hey Roger relax," Alex said, mild annoyance in his tone, "can you please not act like this? We can find out what they are when we find the flowers from the picture."

"But what if they don't have them? Then we'd just end up wasting time!"

Lance sighed, rubbing at his eye.

"Um," Jazmine squeaked, anxiously pulling out an earbud, "why don't you show uh...Keith? The picture, I mean. He works here, he has to know the name of the flowers, right?"

"Yeah Lance, why don't you do that? That way we _don't_ end up wasting an hour here or whatever." Roger said, walking back over to join his siblings.

"Por favor Roger..." Alex sighed, fatigue heavy in his features.

"Look, I just wanna go home. It's a Saturday, guys, c'mon. I don't know why we had to come; you know me and Jazmine are the ones who like to stay home the most. This is torture!" Roger complained, crossing his arms.

"Roger, estamos comprando flores por Serena..." Lance said, tone level as he looked at the counter beneath Keith's hands.

Roger stiffened. Alex and Jazmine now looked incredibly uncomfortable, Jazmine bringing her hands together to wring.

"...lo siento." Roger said, bringing down his arms.

"It's okay." Lance said, giving him a small smile and a pat on the head.

_'There is it again. What is it with Serena? Who the hell is she?'_ Keith thought. Taking a small breath, he asked Lance for a picture of the flowers he was looking for.

After a few different photos of the same flowers, Keith was able to tell him that yes, he knew the names of them and yes, they did indeed stock the flowers he was looking for.

"These are zinnia, red carnations, dark crimson roses, and poppies. Quite a bouquet that'll make." Keith said, moving to grab said flowers and arrange them.

"Ah, I recognized roses, just not the others. Roses are pretty common for tattoos." Lance chuckled.

At that, Keith wondered if Lance had any tattoos of his own. Allura had arms full of them, it's natural to assume Lance has some, right? But since he always wore long sleeves or jackets, Keith was never able to tell. They would suit him wonderfully; breathtaking art on his body, a beautiful canvas for it.

Keith nearly choked at his own thought. He had to put down a few roses he had in his hand to make sure he wouldn't drop them.

"Hey Keith, have you seen Shiro? I had to-" Hunk said, walking out from the back room. He stopped when he saw Lance standing near the counter.

"Lance!" Hunk greeted as he walked over to him and his siblings.

"Hey, how's it going?" Lance replied.

"It's going alright. Wait, is that..?" He trailed off, looking at the two boys standing off to the side.

Roger was busy on his phone, if how fast his fingers seemed to tap on the screen was any indication. Alex had finished cleaning his glasses and was testing his work as he looked at his brother and the second florist; Alex stared for a bit before realization dawned on him.

"Hunk?"

"Hey Alex! You remember me?"

"Yeah dude! It's been a while!" Alex said, giving Hunk a smile.

"Hey," Alex said as he smacked Roger on his arm.

"¿Ay, que, que??" He hissed as he grabbed the spot where he'd been hit.

Pointing with his head, Roger's eyes followed the direction that led to him acknowledging Hunk.

"Oh my god. Hey Hunk, how've you been?"

"Pretty good. What about you guys? You still in school?" He asked.

"Yeah, me and Alex are seniors now. Won't be long until we have to go to school again and actually pay for it. Debt sounds fun." Roger answered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"At least you know what you want to be mister 'I-like-computers-more-than-my-own-brother-so-I'm-going-into-technology.'" Alex joked.

Lance laughed, hand going to ruffle what little it could of Alex's spiked hair.

"There's still time for you to pick, so don't worry." He assured him.

"Lance, I'm not seven anymore.." Alex complained, batting away Lance's hand.

"But really, how have you been? You guys did move away for a few years, but your bro hasn't really told me much. How were things in Balmera?" Hunk asked, directing his focus to the trio of younger siblings.

Keith managed to look at them in time to see them mask the slightest hint of unease in all their faces. Even Lance quickly hid his discomfort like how he had done back at the tattoo parlor.

"It was fine." Roger said, attention going back to his phone.

"Yeah, it was okay." Alex threw in, cracking his knuckles to give his hands something to do.

"I didn't like it there." Jazmine quietly said.

Before Hunk could ask, an obnoxiously loud ringtone came from Lance's pocket. Pulling out his phone from the confines of his pants and glancing at the screen, he gave a small sigh as he answered.

"Hello?...hey, Charlie. I'm ok, what about you?...mom and dad are okay too, so are the kids...talk to them?..." Lance trailed off as he looked at his siblings.

Roger looked completely disinterested, while Alex and Jazmine seemed to communicate silently with each other. After a few beats of silence Alex held out his hand for Lance's phone. After handing it off to Alex, he and Jazmine walked outside the shop.

"So, about those flowers..." Lance said, eager to divert attention away from the call he had gotten.

"Wait, 'Charlie'? Like, your brother Charlie?" Hunk asked, trapping Lance into having to give an answer.

"Uh, yeah. He's really...busy, so he's not around a lot." Lance quickly supplied, hoping that nobody heard the waver in his voice at the speedy answer.

"Oh that sucks. What does he do that he's always busy?" Hunk asked.

"U-uh, he's uh, he's a mechanic. He moved out to get a job at a car garage so, we don't see him that much haha." Lance replied, feeling sweat gather on his back.

"Aw, what? When did that happen? Does that mean he's still in Balmera then?"

"Hey so," Roger cut in, looking incredibly annoyed. "I'm sure my brother would _**love**_ _to play 21 questions,_ but we're actually super busy. So if we could, I don't know, get the flowers we came to get in the first place, you can talk some other time. Sound good?"

"Roger, don't be rude." Lance gently chided.

"Whatever," He replied, rolling his eyes. "Take off your jacket, you look like you'll overheat." He said before walking out to join his siblings.

Sighing, Lance took his sibling's advice and shed his jacket, tying it firmly at his waist.

Keith wasn't expecting Lance to wear a tank top underneath. He also wasn't expecting Lance to have such a defined figure. He wasn't that muscular, but Keith could make out the definition of what muscle Lance had. Keith's eyes followed the small splatters of freckles Lance had on his arms up and down, spotting a splash of blue on his left wrist. Keith wasn't sure why his throat suddenly went dry, but he couldn't help himself from staring.

"...th. Keith?" Hunk's voice called.

Keith was shaken out of his thoughts as Hunk's voice broke through and was shocked to find that his mouth was slightly hanging open and that oh god, Lance was staring right at him.

"Yeah Hunk?"

"Dude, I asked if you were done getting the flowers?"

"O-Oh! Er, right." Keith stammered, grabbing the bouquet and heading to the counter.

The soft chime of the entrance bell signaled an arrival.

"Welcome back Shiro." Keith greeted.

"Good to be back." Shiro replied. He glanced at Lance, giving him a warm smile.

"I haven't seen you for a while. How have you been?" Shiro asked.

"I'm alright. Thanks for asking. No one ever really asks me that to tell you the truth." Lance laughed.

Shiro gave a small chuckle as he walked over to join his other employees at the counter.

"Say, can I ask you something?" Lance began, resting his arms atop the smooth wood.

"I'd be happy to answer. What do you want to ask?"

"How'd you start this place? I mean, I can tell it's been here a while since my mom talks about it and you can sort of see the age; the faded letters on the awning outside, the little cracks in the doorframe. Is this a family business?"

"Ah," Shiro stated, rubbing at his neck. "It's quite a story."

"I don't mind! I'm really curious."

"Well, if you really want to know, I suppose it's alright." Shiro said.

"You're right," Shiro started. "This is a family owned place. I started helping out around here when I was a kid, helping my mom and dad. It was nice, but my dad passed suddenly in a car crash; and that same crash also gave me this," Shiro said, lifting his prosthetic arm. "So it was just me and my mom left. We managed, but we still had our rough patches."

"I'm sorry." Lance said.

"Thank you," Shiro said. "Everyone heard what had happened with my dad and me, and came by every day to check up on us. It was a little overwhelming, but it was nice to know how much people cared about us. A few friends of the family knew my mom was planning on having another child but, well, since dad was gone that wasn't going to happen. But, my mom found out about a program that helps foster kids find potential permanent families from a customer and she found a kid she wanted to help. Coincidentally, that kid is standing right next to me."

Shiro pointed to Keith, giving him as Keith shoved him lightly.

"Whoah, you two are brothers? That's cool!" Lance said, giving them a smile.

"Mm-hm. I'm not going to lie, Keith was a little brat." Shiro laughed, earning him another shove from Keith. "He was such a handful; I'm sure my mom grew so many gray hairs because of him. But once he got used to the quiet of the place, he calmed down. My mom passed peacefully in her sleep a few years ago, so it's just been me and Keith now. But just because we're brothers doesn't mean I go easy on him and let him call in whenever he wants."

"Since when have I ever called in?" Keith asked.

"You haven't, which you should keep up." Shiro answered.

"Wow. Still, that's really cool. Your mom was amazing from what you said." Lance told Shiro, giving him a fond smile.

Lance's siblings came back in, Alex handing the phone back to Lance.

"Charlie said he wrote a letter and that it should be here in a week." Alex reported.

"Hm, thanks." Lance said.

Shiro looked between the small group of kids and Lance. "Oh, you know them?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, these are my younger siblings. Roger, Alex and Jazmine." He introduced each sibling with a head pat.

"It's nice to meet you." Shiro greeted.

"Whoa, your arm is cool." Alex said, eyes falling directly onto Shiro's prosthetic.

"Alex!" Lance chided, lightly hitting Alex on his arm. "Apologize. Now."

"Ow! I'm sorry.." Alex mumbled.

"It's alright, really." Shiro assured Lance.

"Did something happen...to your arm...?" Jazmine asked, testing the waters of Shiro's compliance and Lance's patience.

Shiro looked at her, then Alex. He seemed to think it over for a little before leaning on the counter.

"I was in a car crash with my dad. A drunk driver ran a red light and completely rammed into us. Since my arm was up on the window, the shattered glass and force of the metal severed my arm. The doctors had to amputate it, but they were able to attach some of the still functioning nerves to the prosthetic; so it's like I never really lost my arm." He explained.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked..." Jazmine said, looking as if she would burst into tears.

"It's ok! I don't mind, so don't worry, alright?" Shiro assured her.

"Oh right! I still have to pay you for the flowers.." Lance said, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. Pulling out a crumpled bill, he handed the money to Shiro as he grabbed the flowers from Keith's hands.

"Who are the flowers for? Your special lady? Your mom must be proud of what a gentleman you are." Shiro laughed.

"They're for my older sister." Lance answered bluntly.

Keith had never seen Shiro's smile die so quickly. He swore if he blinked he would have missed it.

"Oh yeah, isn't today-" Alex started, cut off by a smack from his brother.

"Cállate." Roger hissed.

"Ahaha, just ignore them. They're always like this; brothers, y'know?" Lance meekly laughed, strain starting to become apparent in his voice.

"Lance," Jazmine said, lightly tapping her brother's arm, "I forgot, mom said we can't stay long. She's working and wants us home soon so we can clean and cook."

"Ok." Lance sighed. Flowers in hand, he looked to Shiro and Keith before giving them both a thankful smile.

"Thanks for stopping by. It was nice to see you again." Shiro said as Lance headed towards the door.

"Yeah." Lance called as he allowed his siblings to walk out first. After giving the two florists one last smile he walked out as well.

"Hm. I wonder what that was about." Shiro thought aloud.

"Huh? What was what about?" Keith asked.

"Well, when I was outside, those kids were on the phone with Charlie? And when they came back inside, they said something about him writing them. Wouldn't he just call?"

"I guess?"

"And then...Roger? Hitting his brother to be quiet."

"What? You understood that?" Keith said.

"I learned a little bit of Spanish since some clients have a hard time speaking English. I only know basic Spanish though. I recognized what he said as 'be quiet' or 'shut up.' And that was after the mention of their sister..." Shiro trailed off, attention drawn to the high pitched beeps from his watch.

"Oh, it is that time already? Keith, I'm sorry to ask, can you run to the market and pick up some more tulip and gardenia seeds? I want to take stock of what we still have and if we need to grow more flowers."

"On it!" Keith said before running out the store.

While sprinting, he saw Lance standing in front of a blue car talking to someone. From what he could see at his distance, Lance looked agitated to say the least. His arms were crossed, his whole body yelled to go away.

The other person he was talking to looked like he walked straight out of some strange mechanic shop, Keith thought. An old aviators cap and googles were fixed on messy white hair, showing off piercings connected with chains, tank top revealing tattoos of pin-up girls and...robots? Strange choice to put permanently on your body, Keith thought to himself. He had a few streaks of black, which Keith deduced as oil smears.

As he got closer, he slowed his pace and hid behind a corner of a nearby building. He was able to catch some of what they were talking about.

"...'s Chuck huh? He out the cage yet?"

"No."

"Awwww, that sucks doesn't it? Man, he was a crazy guy while he was rolling with his crew from what the oldies said. The best guy they had. Shame what happened."

"Yeah."

"What's the matter, am I bothering you? You just gotta tell me, man, and I'll fuck off. You know how chill I am, you don't gotta be cold."

"You're bothering me, now fuck off."

"So harsh dude. You gotta relax. I'm always up to hook you up so you can be chill like me heh. How bout it?"

"No, Rolo, I don't want your weed. If you're done, go."

"Damn, Lance. I can't just ask how your bro's doin?"

"You can. You just have to leave afterwards."

"Bummer. Well, I gotta go, my girl's plannin somethin special for us to do tonight. Catch ya later, Lance."

Hearing footsteps fade, Keith glanced around the corner to see Lance bury his face in his hands. Lance's fingers reached into his hair and gripped tightly, Lance heaved a loud sigh and now looked completely annoyed.

Behind him came his siblings who each had small shopping bags. They seemed to be talking to each other and hadn't noticed Lance's agitation. Lance then suddenly shifted to face his siblings.

"I was about to go in; you guys take forever!"

"Whatever! We had to get stuff for us too!" Roger said.

"Yeah! We hate shopping, so we deserved it!" Jazmine agreed.

"Okay okay," Lance laughed. "Thanks guys. Let's get going."

Keith watched as they all climbed in after a small fight over who would ride shotgun, with Alex winning their game of rock-paper-scissors.

Watching the car grow smaller and smaller, Keith was left now more curious than ever about Lance. Why was he so uncomfortable talking about his siblings? How did he come to know a stoner? How does he manage to hide his emotions so flawlessly? Just what happened in his past?

Until he knew, Keith wasn't going to give up his plan of getting closer to him. He wanted to understand, maybe he could help Lance if he was willing. Keith felt as if his only chance for answers was the peculiar dark skinned boy who Keith felt was pulling him into an ocean of mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is extra long so I'm sorry for that haha, but I hope you enjoy it!! As always if u wanna say hi just shoot me a message at my blog data-roxass.tumblr.com ! Or u can @ me in posts if u want 
> 
> [remember to rate the fic, comment the fic, and subscribe for more fics similar to this one, see ya]


	7. Chapter 7

Keith had a very rough outline for his plan.

Step 1: Talk to people who knew Lance.  
Step 2: Talk to Lance himself to better understand him.  
Step 3: ?????  
Step 4: Profit from new friendship

Keith worked on step one when he and Hunk decided to visit the cafe for break instead of visiting the tattoo parlor. After Hunk returned to their table with drinks and sandwiches in tow, he decided to get straight to it.

"So, you've known Lance for how long?"

"Huh? Why the sudden interest?" Hunk asked, caught a little off guard by the question about his friend.

"Well, from what it sounds like, you seem like you've known him for a while, and Lance just looks like the kind of guy who just talks about himself non-stop."

"He does, doesn't he?" Hunk laughed. "But I've known him since...second year of middle school? Around that time, roughly. I was with him until sophomore year of high school, but he moved during fall of that year. Lance came back at the start of summer for senior year."

"Hm. Did he look different then?"

"You mean the piercings? He had the ear piercings then, not the nose ring. He got that later on when he found out the school wasn't against piercings."

"What about his siblings? I think I remember you mentioning that you saw them?" Keith asked as Hunk took a bite of his sandwich.

"Yeah," Hunk said after swallowing the bite of his sandwich. "Charlie and Serena are three years older than him. Serena was a good student; she made honor roll a couple times, was on the school's news team, part of a few clubs, she was even in their performing arts program. Charlie was more...I don't know, he was the opposite of her. He cut school a lot, hung around the wrong crowd; just got in trouble often. Lance would talk to me about them. He even said Serena was like a second mom at home to him and his little siblings."

"Huh? Second mom?"

"Yeah. His mom and dad were busy with work, so Serena just took on the mantle of mom most of the time. She picked up Lance and his siblings from school, made lunches for them, stuff like that. Lance's parents were there, but they were sorta just in and out from what he told me. If anything, it sounded like Serena was really Lance's mom."

Hunk paused to take a few more bites as Keith drank from his cup of coffee.

"So, did you see her or Lance's brother when he came back?"

"No, actually. They were already done with school, and Lance didn't really talk about them as much. He always just talked about something else when I ask him about them, so I don't press him."

Keith made a noise of indifference as Hunk's phone dinged. After staring at the screen and tapping something, Hunk put his phone away as he started to stand.

"Hunk?"

"Oh, sorry; Lance said it was ok for me to go in today to have my piercings removed and have the gauges put in. He just texted me asking if I can come in right now to get a look at the gauges I want so I can see them myself."

"Oh, ok." Keith said as he watched Hunk walk to the counter and tip Shay, smiling to himself as he saw Hunk's blush tinting his ears and hearing his stutters as Shay laughed.

Thinking about where Hunk was going, he recalled that Allura said something about having lived in the city Lance supposedly moved to. Balmera, if he remembered correctly. Keith figured maybe Allura ran into Lance while he was there? So she probably knew things Hunk didn't since it sounded like Lance kept quiet about his stay. Downing the rest of his lukewarm coffee, he walked out to catch Hunk and ask if he could tag along for his appointment later on that day to have his gauges put in.  
________________________________

Keith stood by the entrance to the back room, since sitting in one of the chairs was reserved for clients, despite his status as "friend of the owner." He leaned against the frame of the entryway as Lance gloved his hands and set up different small pieces of jewelry in front of Hunk.

"Ok Hunk, you been taking care of your piercings like I told you?"

"Yeah."

"M'kay, cause I can't do anything unless your lobes are nice and easy for me to work with. Since you started with a 9 millimeter piercing, I think I can get you stretched to 00 gauge today. Sound good?"

"Is this gonna hurt?" Hunk sheepishly asked.

"Nah, it'll be fine. I can't get you to the size of the gauges you want right now since those are 1 inch, so you're gonna have to come back in for a few more stretchings every once in a while okay?"

"Wait, why can't you just do that now?" Keith asked from the doorway.

"That'd hurt like hell for Hunk, for starters. Second? I could damage his skin and cause a blowout, and those things frickin' suck." Lance answered, opening a bottle of what looked like lotion.

"Ok, I'm gonna apply some oil and rub your earlobes for a bit. This is going to help make the skin soft and lessen the pain, ok?" Lance explained as he rubbed oil on his fingertips.

"Ok. But I was curious and looked up gauges online. Can't you just do this with your own hands not gloved?"

"I could, but I prefer just to be safe and wear gloves anyway. They're kinda sterile in the first place, and I want to be clean as possible."

Lance removed Hunk's old piercings and began to insert new ones. Hunk must have winced since Lance had stopped and asked if he was alright. Hunk gave a nod, and Lance kept going.

From one of the back rooms came Allura followed by a client, Keith guessed. It was a girl, dressed in form fitting crop top and half skirt with long blonde pigtails that came to end in long styled curls past her shoulders. What stood out to Keith the most was her eyes, their true color hidden beneath purple colored contacts. Keith always commended people who wore contacts; he couldn't imagine having to stick something in his eye and have it stay there for an entire day. He was fine with his gray eyes, thanks for asking.

"Lance, hi~!" She called before surprising him with a hug from behind. "It feels like it's been so long since I saw you!"

"Hi, Nyma. I'm kinda in the middle of something right now." Lance answered curtly, grateful that she had waited until his hands were empty and he wasn't anywhere near Hunk who was surprised at her sudden presence.

"Mm, did Rolo see you? He told me he ran into you a few days ago." She asked, complying and releasing Lance from her arms.

"I saw him. He asked me stuff and then he left."

"Hm."

"You got a new tattoo?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, between my shoulder blades. I'd be happy to show it to you sometime." She giggled.

"Huh, well why don't I take you out first then you can show me?"

"Lance, you flirt!" She laughed as she gave him a playful shove. "I'm Rolo's girl first, so you'd have to get in line."

"I thought you both were open to new things? I'd imagine he'd be okay once you both got enough drinks."

"Depends, you wanna drink with us?"

"No thanks. I learned my lesson when I woke up cuffed to a tree with no car or money in my wallet."

"We said sorry."

"Sorry doesn't make up for having to walk 10 blocks home at 4 in the morning in freezing weather."

"Booooo. Oh well, catch you later Lance. Call us up when you wanna have fun." She said as she made her way to the exit.

"Wow. Was that a friend of yours?" Hunk asked, eyes slightly wide from the surprise of the girl and her conversation with Lance.

"No, that's Nyma; I know her through a friend of my bro. Pretty much a party person who has every liquor in the world in her veins and doesn't know the meaning of moderation. 'Go big or go home' pretty much sums her up."

"But, she mentioned you drinking with her and her...boyfriend?"

"Rolo, yeah. I drank with them once; I don't remember a thing which would be fine since I don't think I want to know what happened. Dios mío..." Lance muttered under his breath, prepping Hunk's other ear with oil.

"Do you still drink though?" Keith asked from the doorway.

"God no. Shits awful. It tastes like crap and burns like hell; I don't know how Nyma and Rolo stand it. But Nyma's addicted to it, pretty much drinks every day."

"Wait, was she-" Allura started.

Lance looked at her with a face Keith had to place as 'are you seriously asking me that?' Allura had groaned before muttering a "damn it."

"What's wrong?" Keith asked, curious of Allura's sudden frustration.

"It's a rule that you don't give tattoos or piercings to clients who are drunk. You have to decline them or, if it gets bad, call the police. I can't usually tell when someone's drunk if it's not blatantly obvious."

"Well," Lance chuckled. "Nyma is pretty high functioning. The main giveaway is she's flirty. She's pretty to the point and cold when she's sober."

"Should I be worried you know this?" She asked.

"Nah. She's been around a few times, so I remembered is all; don't worry."

"Alright. If you need me, I'll be in my office dying over how this happened." Allura said as she walked past Keith. She stopped momentarily at Pidge's desk. "Remind me that I have an appointment in 30 please."

"You got it boss." Pidge affirmed as they set up an alarm on their phone.

Watching Allura head to her office, Keith remembered her hinting to knowing Lance while in Balmera. Since he got all he could out of Hunk, Allura was his next target. Looking back to Hunk, he followed the blue gloved hands up towards their owner. Lance had a look of seriousness, eyes slightly lidded in concentration as he worked on stretching the skin in his fingers, smiling a fraction in pride as he managed to not cause Hunk pain. Keith noticed that Lance was wearing his usual green jacket again, hiding his skin from prying eyes. He remembered when he managed to see Lance's mess of freckles decorating his skin and the small stain of blue on his wrist. Keith couldn't imagine what it could be; a name, picture? As Lance straightened himself back up, Keith tore his eyes off him and quickly looked at his watch.

"Hey, Hunk wanted to look over designed gauges so it might be a while. You can hang in the waiting area out front with Pidge." Lance called, hand pointing to the space as if Keith forgot.

"Ok, thanks." Keith said, turning instead towards Allura's office. He stood outside for two minutes, from what looking at his watch told him. Keith took some breaths as he ran over how he would approach her and what questions he would ask. Fixing the watch by pulling it higher on his arm, he gave a firm knock to her door.

"Come in."

Opening the door, Keith was greeted to a light purple room, Allura seated in a corner at her desk with an upbeat song playing from her computer and papers in front of her. There was a single chair in front of her desk, along the walls frames of space artwork displaying constellations (Keith recognized Orion and Perseus), and nebulas.

"Oh, Keith! Always nice to see you. Why don't you sit down?"

Keith took her up on her invitation and sat in the small chair. "Sorry if I'm bothering you from work."

"Oh don't worry about it; this isn't much." She assured him, patting the papers in front of her. "What brings you here?"

"Oh just, wanted to hang out. Hunk is gonna be a while, Lance told me. Said something about looking at designed gauges?" Keith answered, scratching at a spot in the back of his neck.

"Mm. Well, I'm sorry there's not a lot to do in here. You can just be on your phone, I guess." She offered.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you about some things."

"Is it about Lance?"

Keith choked on his saliva, coughing and sputtering mildly before calming down. "Why do you think that?" He managed to get out.

"It's just a feeling. He is very interesting if you don't know him." She said, playful smile on her face as she lowered the volume on her computer.

"Well, I do wanna know what he was like in Balmera. It sounds like you knew him when you lived there when you brought it up a while back."

"Hmm, I did, didn't I? Well...he's very caring once he decides he likes you. Sure he's a flirt, but that's just talk. He's a big softie and huge dork. He once dressed up as Link because his little sister wanted to dress up as Zelda for Halloween. If you ask him about Disney movies I'm sure he can sing every song from the movie you ask." She laughed fondly.

"Heh." Keith chuckled.

"Other than that, I can't really tell you much. That would be up to him to tell you."

Keith hummed in compliance. He want entirely satisfied, but he wasn't going to push for more. He supposed he could try Lance's siblings, but he doubted they tell him anything about their brother. He decided he'd have to try talking to Lance directly if he wanted to know exactly what happened.

"Alright, now you tell me."

"Huh?" Keith was snapped out of his internal thoughts by Allura's request.

"I told you a little about Lance, now you tell me a little about yourself. It's a fair trade for such priceless information, no?"

Keith sighed internally and externally. "Ok. What do you want to know?"

"Mm...why do you work at the flower shop when you look like you could work here?"

"...should I be offended?"

"I'm sorry, but I just had to ask. Your hair and just sour look I see you with all the time makes it look like you should be giving tattoos, not arranging roses and what have you." Allura giggled. "Do you like Guns n' Roses? Please tell me you do; that would be hilarious."

"......I do." Keith admitted.

Allura doubled over, her giggling fit shaking her entire body, hand covering her mouth as if that would stifle her laughing.

"What-who else do you listen to?" She managed to ask between giggles.

"Joan Jett, The Ramones, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, Blackhearts, The Clash."

"Very good choices I have to say. I'm more death metal or heavy metal myself." Allura commented, fixing herself after her wave of laughter subsided.

"You're into death metal?" Keith asked, astounded at how someone like Allura could like that genre of music.

"Mmhm. Nothing amuses me more than blaring death metal when someone asks what I listen to." She grinned.

Before Keith could say anything, there was a quick knock at the door followed by a mop of brown hair poking in.

"Hey, boss. Appointment, remember?"

"Oh right! Thank you, Pidge."

As Pidge closed the door, Allura went about putting away her papers and shutting down her computer.

"Is the appointment not here?" Keith asked.

"Oh no, I'm just helping my father with a meeting. He keeps getting pestered by this guy who really wants to buy Al-Tea for some reason. I'm going to help my dad see if he can get them to stop this time."

"Wait, isn't that the coffee shop?"

"Yeah, he owns the coffee shop Pidge's brother works at." She answered over her shoulder as she picked up her purse. "Well, it's been fun. See you later." Allura said as she held open the door for Keith.

With both the tattoo artist and the florist out of the small office, Keith followed Allura to the waiting area and sat down in one of the chairs there as he watched Allura head down the sidewalk. To his surprise, he saw Lance's siblings walking towards the parlor. Jazmine sped ahead of her brothers and held the door open for them as she followed them inside.

"I'll tell him we're here." Roger said as he headed towards the back.

Alex took a seat opposite of Keith's front while Jazmine went to Pidge's desk to say hi to them. After exchanging greetings she went to join her brother, who was reading something on his phone, and sat to his left. She was about to speak when she noticed Keith.

"Oh, hi. You're...Keith, right?" She said, voice small and timid.

Roger returned from the back, taking a seat on Jazmine's right, effectively boxing her in between himself and his brother. He glanced at Keith, gave him a tilt of his head and took out his phone, not bothering to speak.

"Hm?" Alex looked up from his phone momentarily to see why his sister had spoken. Going over what he heard, he finally noticed Keith. "Oh, hey." He said, giving him a polite smile which Keith returned.

"What are you all doing here?" Keith asked, checking his watch. It was only 1:30, shouldn't they be in school?

"We got out early today; it was staff appreciation day so they sent us home so they could have a party." Alex supplied.

"Él no necesita saber, Alex." Roger deadpanned.

"¿Él preguntó, no estabas escuchando?" Alex replied, mildly annoyed.

"Por favor, no pelean." Jazmine cut in.

Roger rolled his eyes, not bothering to argue any longer, while Alex returned to his phone. Jazmine cracked her knuckles to relive some of the tension from the stress just acquired; looking at Alex's screen, she pulled out her phone as well and asked what he was reading.

"I think I remember you being interested in the books at Al-Tea. Do you read often?" Keith asked, hoping to pass time as he waited for Hunk.

"O-oh, yeah. I love the fiction section they have!" Jazmine replied, small smile and her eyes bright. "I was happy to see they had the rest of the Heroes of Olympus series; I could never find a full PDF of it online. The last book was disappointing though, the only good parts were Nico's and Reyna's chapters." She grumbled.

"Oh, really?"

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to make the book sound bad! But it kind of is. I mean, if you want to know then you'd have to start with the Percy Jackson series first then read Heroes of Olympus since that's the sequel to it. The fourth book is the best book of that series in my opinion. I-I mean, sorry, I didn't mean to ramble." She laughed nervously, expression mortified.

"No, it's alright. I can see you really love those books. Does your brother read too?"

"Which one?" Jazmine asked, expression switched to neutral.

"Your older one, the one that works here."

"Lance? Yeah. He cried over Night, and laughs at how the kid in Catcher in the Rye is pretentious as shit. Mainly he likes reading comics and manga."

"Manga? What's that?"

"Oh, uh, Japanese comics. You read them from left to right instead of right to left. I think I have one in my bag he lent me..." she said, searching her backpack until she produced a book with two boys seemingly jumping while looking at a ball on the cover. "This one's about this high schooler who wants to follow in his idol's footsteps and become the star of his school's volleyball team. I like it so far; the main character is really energetic and determined."

"He's my favorite." A voice called from the back.

"Lance!" Jazmine exclaimed.

"Kageyama is sort of cold and self absorbed in the beginning, but he learns how to not be a dick and gets along with the team. He mainly just sticks with Hinata in games and monologues the crap out of Hinata's ability to play."

"Wow."

"Mhm. I should lend you the basketball one when you get caught up with that. Or we can switch gears and I can get you started on that webcomic I told you about."

"That sounds interesting from what you've told me about it. Kids starting the apocalypse? That's new."

"If you're out does that mean Hunk is done?" Keith cut in, lost and intrigued by the conversation he was hearing but wondering about how Hunk was doing.

"Yeah, he's just looking at the new gauges in the mirror."

Keith stood up, passing by Lance and finding Hunk looking at his ears in the mirror. Hunk displayed his ears to Keith, showing him small illustrations of the sun in each gauge. Heading out again, they both were startled by Lance suddenly yelling.

"Nants ingonyama bagithi baba!"

"What." Hunk and Keith both got out as Jazmine laughed and her brothers started to laugh with her.

"Oh, its Disney night at our house, and I was asking what they wanted to watch. Then I was asked what I wanted to watch and well, I just demonstrated which one I was in the mood for."

"By yelling?" Keith asked.

"Oh my god, have you never seen Lion King?"

"Should I have seen it?"

Lance gave Keith a look of surprise mixed with pity. He placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, mocking holding back tears and said in a mock shaky voice, "I'm sorry your childhood sucked."

"My childhood automatically sucks because I didn't see a movie?"

"Yeah pretty much. Why don't you come over to my place and live a little? Sounds like you could use a lesson in the circle of life."

A catchy ringtone cut off Keith before he could retort, eyes fell on Alex as he picked up.

"Sí?...no estamos aquí con Lance...ok. Bye, mom." Alex hung up as he turned his phone face down. "Mom says something happened with our compadres, so she's flying out tonight to see them."

"Okay, did she say anything about dad going with her?" Lance asked.

"No, so I think he's staying. But didn't he mention going out of town for work?"

"Yeah, he did. He's leaving in two days and he'll be gone for about a week." Roger confirmed.

Lance sighed, massaging his temples. He looked at his siblings and put on a smile. "I'll be out in five, so hang on a little longer."

His siblings made no sound as they returned to their phones. Lance looked at Hunk, quickly examining his ears once more and gave him a list of things to do to take care of his ears. As Hunk thanked him and began to head towards the door, Lance stopped Keith from following Hunk.

"You mind pulling your hair back?"

Keith thought the question was odd, but complied anyway; loosely tying his hair with a hair tie he kept for when the weather got too hot. He wasn't expecting Lance to lean in close enough that Keith could see faint specks of freckles under Lance's eyes. Freckles and fading bags telling him Lance had trouble sleeping.

"...yeah, you look good." Lance muttered.

"W-what?"

"Oh, I mean, you'd look good with piercings I mean. Maybe just standard studs or shells." Lance told him, bringing his face away to give Keith back his personal space. "Thanks again for letting me look." He grinned.

"Uh, no problem..." Keith muttered, turning away from Lance's gaze and heading towards the door. He could have sworn he saw Roger giving him a look out of the corner of his eye.

Free from the parlor, he headed back to his work in a daze. Hunk picked up that maybe Keith wasn't entirely tuned in to what he was doing and asked if he was alright.

"I'm fine; why do you ask?"

"You're kind of out of it. Are you sick?"

"No, it's not that..." Keith mumbled, eyes dropping to look at the floor beneath their storefront window.

His steel gray eyes picked up to the tattoo parlor's window, glancing at the three younger siblings of the employee who had given him such a generous compliment. Said employee was still within view, and turned to look at the shop across the street from him. He raised a hand in greeting seeing him; to which Keith returned the gesture. He felt...warm. Touching his cheek briefly he felt sudden heat.

"Keith, your cheeks are red. Do you have a fever?" Hunk asked, concern for his friends health growing.

"...maybe? Yeah I'm just, I think I'll go home for the day."

"Ok, your health is important. Take care, okay?"

Keith headed out, face ablaze and thoroughly confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way longer than I wanted but hey longer chaps mean more content for u guys! I would've posted this sooner but I hit a block and then life and school decided to kick my ass. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter !
> 
> [remember to rate the fic, comment the fic and subscribe for more fics similar to this one, see ya]


	8. Chapter 8

Keith woke up earlier than usual in a cold sweat. He couldn't remember what woke him, but he was thankful for that. Though when he woke up unable to remember dreams that left him with a pumping heart he knew it meant something was going to happen.

Keith headed to the shop as the sun was just barely peeking above the horizon. As he walked along the sidewalk, he noticed a blue van with a few small dents on its side next to some chips in the car's paint. Strange enough, he thought he saw someone sleeping inside.

Keith headed to the shop as the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. As he walked along the sidewalk, he noticed a blue van with chipped paint and some small dents in its side. Strangely enough, he thought he saw someone sleeping inside.

He moved closer to the car and stopped when he recognized the person.

_'Lance? What's he doing sleeping in his car...?'_ Keith thought.

Inching a bit closer, he got a better view of Lance. Lance was sleeping, arms crossed and his seat pushed back as far as it could go. Keith could see the rise and falls of Lance's chest, tiny puffs of white signaling how cold it was inside his car. Eyes glancing into the back told a small story of its owner and his riders; bags of McDonald's, Burger King, and various chips littered the ground, a few papers with rough sketches of scenery, mainly aquatic, covered the seats, along with a book depicting a smiling green orb with a suitcase against space next to two other books. One book had a girl smiling and holding out a hand with petals falling around her, the other smaller compared to the larger books, depicting a boy and girl smiling outwards on the cover while flower petals fell between them. In the back of the minivan, Keith could make out a handle and deduced it as Lance's motorcycle.

Lance's shifting in his seat alarmed Keith, causing him to back away. Keith was able to see Lance turn over on his side, tan hands holding his sides, curling in on himself. Looking closer, Keith noticed a tattoo on the back of his neck. It was low, the majority of it covered by the hood of Lance's jacket. What he could make out was the top half of a circle, a curved line in the center and the halves differently colored.

Lance’s phone alarm, muffled by the glass of the car windows shocked Keith, and he booked it towards the flower shop as quick as he could and nearly slamming the door behind him. He grabbed a broom from the back room and started sweeping and watching Lance as nonchalantly as possible. Keith saw Lance sit up, holding his phone with an exhausted expression on his face. Yawning, Lance got out of his car and stretched before opening the back door. He grabbed his sketches and the books and closed his door with his foot. Lance was about to head inside when he stopped, looked at his car for 5 seconds before shrugging and fishing a set of keys out of his jacket pocket and opening the doors to the parlor.

Keith swept in silence for 20 minutes before hearing a beep from outside. _'Did Lance just now lock his car? That's unsafe.'_ He thought to himself. Not wanting to sweep in total silence, Keith took out his phone to start up a playlist when he paused. Looking around, he saw the shop was fairly tidy; Hunk probably took on Keith's shift of cleaning since he went home early yesterday. And his wristwatch told him it would be another hour before Shiro came in and another 30 minutes after that before Hunk came in. He remembered the movie Lance mentioned and decided to watch that to pass time. Sure, watching movies online wasn't great or legal, but it didn't stop people uploading them or people like Keith watching it.

Keith was watching Simba roar in the rain when he heard the door open. A slight turn of his head showed Shiro walk in with freshly cut violets, tulips, and bells of Ireland in his arms. Keith felt guilty seeing Shiro carry all the flowers since he could've done it when he left but figured he was too tired to notice the flowers by the door on his way out. Pausing the movie he sped over to Shiro and took the violets and tulips from his arms.

"Oh, Keith! I thought you were still sleeping; why are you here already? You know you don't have to be here as early as me." Shiro asked, walking over to a door off to the side of the register that led to the shop's back room.

"I just woke up I guess. I went home early yesterday and felt bad about leaving Hunk with the work."

"Oh yeah, are you feeling better? If you're still unwell you can go home."

"No, no I'm alright now; I promise."

"Don't push yourself, Keith. Put your health first and work second, ok?"

"I could say the same to you; you know you can't lift that many flowers on your own!

"You got me there." Shiro laughed. "Ok Keith, I'll lay off the lifting."

Opening the door, Shiro disappeared into the back briefly before walking out with a large vase. Keith noticed the small drops of water running down the side of the vase, gently setting down the flowers he had grabbed and placing his hands on the cool glass. He frowned when he felt an uneven ridge where the glass was supposed to be smooth.

"Shiro, this vase has a crack."

"Oh, no; really?" Shiro said, dismayed as he inspected the glass and found Keith was telling the truth.

"Keith, you mind heading out really fast and getting a new one? No, actually wait."

Shiro took the vase back, Keith following him and resting against the door frame. He always liked being in the back room. The small space served as a quiet place for him when he needed a break from whatever stresses plagued him. There was an odd serenity from the empty glasses on the shelves, the dripping sink and musty smell of wood. Keith watched as Shiro set the vase in the sink and quickly ran a check on their other vases. Along with the leaky vase, Shiro placed another two vases in the sink.

"We're going to need three new vases. You think you can get them?"

"Sure thing," Keith affirmed.

After receiving money for the new vases, Keith headed out. The sun had finally made it over the horizon, slowly but surely rising to take its place high above. It’s rays dyed the clouds pale pink and orange, birds chirping added a natural soundtrack for Keith to listen to.

Arriving at a store he and Shiro frequented, he grabbed a hand basket and quickly headed towards the gardening section. If it weren't for his habit of glancing at the aisles he walked past for signs of sales or discounts, he wouldn't have seen a familiar figure standing in the office supplies aisle. Slowing down, he confirmed it was Lance standing there; a notebook in his left hand while his right was examining a pack of pens. And Keith was lucky enough to stop as Lance turned his head and saw him.

"Fancy running in to you here," Lance said, a small smile gracing his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, some of our vases are cracked so I'm getting new ones. What about you?"

"Getting art stuff. I know I should be at a 'professional' art store but damn have you seen the prices there? It's expensive as crap; I don't have the money for that." Lance complained.

"Isn't it just paper and pencils and stuff? Why is it expensive?"

"I should be offended but I'm not an artist. Not mainly, anyway." Lance laughed, "Material is expensive. There's all sorts of different supplies like Copic markers, watercolor paints, ink for pens, posable mannequins, just everything. It's overwhelming but cool at the same time."

Keith was thinking of a response when he noticed a gleam from the floor. Looking down he saw the gleam actually came from Lance's wrist; a small silver charm held by a red thread.

"What's that? On your wrist." Keith asked, pointing at Lance's wrist.

"This?" Lance questioned, bringing up said wrist, "It's a bracelet. The charm is called a Hamsa."

Lance closed the distance between himself and Keith. He brought up his hand for Keith to have a better look at his bracelet. Keith lightly held Lance's hand with one of his own hands while the other inspected the hand shaped charm. He admired the simple design of the closed hand, the eye in its palm sending Keith a piercing gaze.

"My mom is really superstitious and believes in the power of charms and stuff. The Hamsa is for protection against the evil eye; it brings good luck to the wearer essentially."

"Oh, your mom gave this to you? That's nice of her."

"No, this is my sisters. She forgot to wear it so it's mine now."

"Isn't that a little much? It's just for today, she'll probably notice and ask for it back right?"

"No," Lance replied curtly. Processing the tone he just used, he looked at Keith in surprise before speaking again. "Sorry." He apologized, his features becoming soft and somber, taking back his hand and covering his wrist with a hand.

Keith wasn't sure of what to say; he scanned his brain for anything to fix the depressing mood Lance was showing. He remembered what he did earlier this morning and started to talk about the movie he watched.

"I watched that movie you mentioned. I liked it a lot. But I don't get it, Simba's a lion; lions are carnivores so how did he get big by eating bugs? Wouldn't he just end up skin and bones? Or dead?"

Lance snorted.

"Keith. Oh my god, it's Disney. It's magic dude."

"But it's not realistic!"

"It's a Disney movie dude, Disney magic. It's fine." Lance laughed.

Keith sighed as he took out his phone, pulling up the page used to watch the movie. Closing the pop-up window, he saw that the site listed movie recommendations based on what visitors usually watched after viewing the current movie. Since he didn't really have any idea of what this studio made, he decided to ask Lance his opinion for the movies suggested.

"What's Tarzan? Is it good?"

"Hmmm. If you can get past the Phil Collins music then yeah. I like the movie well enough. Why?" Lance asked.

Keith showed Lance his phone screen, explaining the video streaming site he was using was recommending movies to him.

"Hm. How about I just do this?"

Before Keith could ask what, Lance took hold of Keith's free hand. Pulling a pen from his pocket, Lance started to write on Keith's palm. Keith, meanwhile, was internally panicking at Lance holding his hand. He focused on how warm Lance's hand was, soft yet firm holding his upturned hand in place. Looking at Lance's nails, Keith saw they were painted a pitch black with small pinpricks of white.

When Lance released Keith's hand, Keith pulled it back to look what had been written.

"Fantasia...Lilo and Stitch...Brother Bear...Treasure Planet...Beauty and the Beast...Spirited Away...Hunchback of Notre Dame...? These are more movies?"

"Movies that I like, yeah. I'd write more but your hand is a little smaller than mine; unless you want me to write on your other hand." Lance chuckled.

"Uh, I'm good thanks. I actually have to get the vases I came here for in the first place."

"Hmmm...I'll walk with you."

"What? Why?"

"My mom likes flowers, and the vases we have are pretty old that they're all yellowed from years of use. So I thought it'd be nice to get a few new ones for her while I was here."

"Ok," Keith said as he moved on to the gardening area, Lance trailing at his side.

Keith always liked being in the gardening area. It reminded him of home; the variety of flowers everywhere, the smell of dry and damp dirt, the sunlight filtering through the fabric roof of the area made Keith think of days he spent in perfect weather outside in the garden he and Shiro had. Despite knowing the vases were actually by the entrance inside the store's main building, Keith always took the time to look outside in the gardening area.

"It smells nice here," Lance stated, moving on to inspect yellow tulips.

"Yeah. I love everything about it. Watering the plants, the feeling of the dirt slipping between my fingers when I plant something new, the sight of a plant starting to grow, even the bees that come by for the pollen. It's just...amazing." Keith sighed, a smile finding its way to his face.

Lance couldn't look away from him. He was dazzled by Keith's smile and touched by his love for gardening. He felt...happy for lack of a better word. He loved people that found joy in what they do, like himself.

"When you put it like that, it really does sound amazing." Lance laughed, watching as Keith's smile formed into embarrassment.

"F-forget you heard that. I mean it." Keith forced himself to say as he marched back inside to grab what he came here for. He nearly sprinted to the register, apologizing for startling the cashier with his sudden appearance. Keith wished they could go faster, anything to get him away from the person he just rambled in front of.

As soon as he heard his name, Keith grabbed the bags of vases and bolted for the exit. He didn't stop until he was sure Lance wasn't behind him. When he reached the corner leading to shop, he settled down and started to walk. Heading inside, he saw Hunk working on a lei while Shiro was going through the bouquets for any wilting flowers.

"Oh, good morning Keith! Are you feeling better?" Hunk asked, setting down the lei he was creating.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I left you with my leftover work."

"Don't worry about it! Your health is more important than work, so don't apologize, okay?"

"Ok; thanks again." Keith gave Hunk a grateful smile. "Oh yeah, here are the vases," Keith said as he held the bag out for Shiro.

Shiro gave a quick thanks as he headed into the back room to store the vases. As he came out, the shop's door opened.

Keith knows that it's common courtesy to greet customers, but he just felt unease with these people.

There was a man, dressed in a deep purple business suit. A stern look was etched into his face, creating creases in his skin. His salt and pepper hair was slicked back, the overhead lights giving his hair a shine. He looked cold and ruthless in Keith's opinion.

Besides him was a woman a few inches shorter than him, dressed in a matching purple suit but with tiny accents of blue. She had purely white hair, kept together in a tight bun. Her face was expressionless as she looked around the shop; jotting down notes on her clipboard.

"Good morning, who is the owner of this property?" The man spoke.

"That would be me, Takashi Shirogane," Shiro responded, moving forward to meet with them.

"Well then. I am Zarkon Galra, head of the Galra Tech Corporation. I see you are familiar with our medical branch." Zarkon said, acknowledging Shiro's prosthetic arm.

"Yes. And to what do I owe your visit, Mr. Galra?" Shiro asked.

"We are looking for properties to acquire in order to open future Galra offices. You have to understand the growth of our company is growing more rapid. It is of the utmost importance that we open new stores to provide more products to new customers. We are willing to compensate you for your cooperation should you agree to sell."

Shiro was shocked, Hunk was as well. Keith was angry. Who were these people, waltzing in here wanting to buy this place like it was a nothing? They had no idea what this place meant to him, Shiro or Hunk. They had no right to buy this place after all it and it's owners had experienced.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that isn't possible." Shiro managed to say.

"Come again?"

"I'm sorry, but this shop is and never will be for sale. No money you could offer would sway me; sorry to disappoint you."

"Well, I'm sorry as well. You're throwing away a perfectly good offer."

"Shame. I believe we're done talking, Mr. Galra."

Zarkon gave a disapproving sniff and look of disgust at Shiro before exiting, the woman following him.

Shiro heaved a sigh of relief once they had left, Hunk offering to get him water while Keith patted his older brother's back.

"Nice show there. I haven't seen you use your serious face in a while." Keith said.

"Thanks, I was having a mild anxiety attack the entire time. He's just...god it was nerve-wracking." Shiro admitted, thankful for Hunk bringing him a bottle of water.

In the middle of drinking his water, Shiro glanced at the door as he heard the chime go off. Re-capping his bottle, he smiled at the people who had just come in.

"Hi Allura, Lance. What brings you here today?"

"We wanted more flowers! Allura's been on a sort of creative kick and she thinks the flowers are helping." Lance explained.

"Shiro, are you okay? I saw Zarkon on my way in..." Allura asked, her face wearing a serious expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You seem really agitated, I should be the one asking you if you're ok," Shiro chuckled, hoping to ease Allura's tension.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she sighed, "I just...I know him; Zarkon, I mean."

"Huh? How?" Keith asked, quirking an eyebrow at the sudden knowledge.

"He and my father were old business partners and friends. When Zarkon took over Galra Tech, he changed. He just became cruel, just undermining every business he came across just so he could buy it. My father still actively puts up a fight against his attempts but the strain is starting to affect him; I'm just worried for my father..." Allura finished, casting her bright blue eyes down to stare a hole in the ground.

"Allura, I'm so sorry; I had no idea," Shiro said softly, bringing his arm to rest comfortingly on her shoulder.

"Thank you," she sighed, patting his arm with a hand as she looked at him, "but I'm helping my father, so I'm no stranger to stress or worries. As long as I can help he'll be fine."

"That's really admirable of you Allura. I'm sure your father will be fine if you're there to help. You're very headstrong so I know you'd put up a good fight." Shiro complimented.

Keith wasn't sure if his brother noticed the slight tinge of red on the tattoo parlor owner's face, but for her sake he just kept quiet.

"You said you needed flowers, right? What can we get for you?" Shiro asked.

"O-oh, right! We'd like some daffodils and daisies; any color you have of them please." Allura said.

Hunk walked over to get daffodils as Shiro went to get daisies. Keith stayed at the register, glancing at Lance as he heard a ringtone go off. Lance reached into his pocket, slightly annoyed at the caller and told Allura he'd be back as soon as he could. He tried putting distance between himself and the glass separating him from Keith, but the florist was still able to make out some words.

"Hey chuck... ...king serious?! ...y god with you... ... _dios ayúdame con usted..._ ...fine, I'll handle it... ...yeah, I'm real lucky you taught me... ...bye."

Keith wasn't sure what to make of what he heard, but he was startled as Lance came in with anger written across his face, transforming his eyes from a calm ocean to a raging storm. Allura noticed Keith's expression, eyes following Keith's gaze to Lance and her own face turning into one of concern.

"Lance, are you alright?" She asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, sure." Lance muttered, bringing a hand to drag down his face.

"...your brother called, didn't he?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "fucking hell..."

"Did he ask you to take care of something?"

"Yeah."

Allura furrowed her eyebrows in concern before sighing herself. "What time should I expect you to go?"

"One, probably. He wants me to get there early but he doesn't get that I have to go shopping later," he explained to her, "asshole." He muttered under his breath.

"I'll tell Pidge that you'll be clocking out early for the day."

"Thanks, boss."

"Please Lance, we've known each other for a while, I know how hard this is on you so it's only right for me to help you when I can."

"I'm lucky to have a friend like you as my boss then." Lance smiled, giggling a bit as he finished speaking.

Keith wasn't sure of the feeling he felt as he watched Allura and Lance's interaction; the small bubbling of curiosity and anger beneath it. He wasn't sure why he was feeling anger in the first place, so he decided to just focus on curiosity. What could Lance be doing that he has to leave early? And why did Lance look so angry after talking to his brother? He fawned over his younger siblings, Keith imagined he'd show the same emotions towards his older siblings as well.

Keith cut off his train of thought when he saw Hunk and Shiro return with arms full of flowers requested by Allura. He hid his smirk behind his hand as he saw Allura blush when she had brushed hands with Shiro exchanging money.

As Allura and Lance made their way towards the door, Lance gave a quick turn back towards Hunk and Keith.

"Sorry guys, I won't be around for lunch; I'm heading out early."

"Aww, really?" Hunk whined.

"Sorry, family stuff. I'll make it up to you, promise!" Lance laughed, sending them both a smile.

Hunk gave a small huff before waving to Lance. "Ok, see you tomorrow!"

Keith watched as Lance and Allura walked back to the parlor, looking away once he saw Lance disappear from his sight. The entire rest of the morning was spent internally debating on what to do. On one hand, he could follow Lance and see what he had to do that made him so angry to accept, but on the other, he didn't want to get caught. He couldn't really pull off tailing Lance as some coincidence; he was terrible at lying. But he felt as though he could learn something new, and he had always been devoted to getting an answer to questions he had.

There was just one tiny problem, and it was how to get away from Hunk without causing suspicion. He didn't want to pull the sickness card again, but he couldn't really think of anything else.

Then he got an idea.

"Hey Hunk, why don't you come with me to grab some coffee?"

"Huh? But I've got to start working on those petunia crowns..."

"It'll be fine, I'm sure Shiro won't mind."

"I won't as long as you bring me a coffee back," Shiro confirmed. "Just black coffee and two sugars."

"Got it. C'mon Hunk!" Keith said, moving to hold open the door for his friend.

"Ok, ok, I'm coming!" Hunk chuckled as he walked out, Keith soon behind him.   
                 __________________

The walk to the coffee shop was spent in comfortable silence. Keith was grateful for Hunk understanding that Keith wasn't much for small talk; telling Hunk that he was quiet was nerve-wracking for him, but he was relieved when Hunk just nodded saying that was ok. As they walked Keith was running through possible outcomes of what he'd find. Was Lance working some extra job he hated? Did Lance do questionable things? Would he be caught trying to follow him? His mind was running at full throttle while his body walked at a leisurely pace.

Once inside, Keith had Hunk place their orders, a bit guilty since he knew Hunk had a crush on the barista Shay. He thought it was cute how they interacted with each other, and he had hopes Hunk would work up the nerve to ask her out. But Keith had other plans; he subtly slipped Hunk a five dollar bill and dashed out the door.

Keith considered himself lucky as he stepped outside, he saw Lance turning from him at the corner of the street across from him. Switching between walking behind him and hiding behind available walls, Keith was able to follow Lance to a part of town he always thought could use more TLC. He watched as Lance headed down an alley, closely following him and hiding behind a nearby dumpster.

Peeking around the edge of the dumpster, he saw Lance standing in front of a man. He hid his face with a cloth tied around the lower half of his face while his pulled up hood covered the top. He was big like Hunk, but with more muscle. His appearance reminded Keith of days when he was younger and played outside all day; covered in dirt and grime.

"You him?" The man said, his voice like stepping on gravel.

"Mhm."

"You got what he owes me then or what?"

"No; I'm here to tell you to piss off. He ain't giving you shit."

"Mind repeating that, _niño_?" The man spat, stepping closer to Lance until he was practically inches away from his face.

" _Claro_ ; Chuck isn't giving you shit, so take your damn drugs and piss off."

Keith swore the man became a blur as he saw Lance collapse holding his middle. Lance didn't have time to respond as the man swung his leg to kick the side of Lance's head. The man bent over and picked up Lance by the collar of his shirt. Lance stared at him before spitting on his face. The man yelled as he threw Lance against the wall, stalking over and beating him.

Keith felt frozen. He wanted to scream, to go over and help Lance, to fight back for him, but he was stuck to his hiding spot. He felt relief when the assailant finally stopped, stepping back as if to admire what he'd just done.

Keith's heart stopped as he took in the view of Lance; bruises on his face, probably more under his clothes, scrapes on his hands, and blood starting to drip from cuts in his face. He was about to will himself to step in when Lance lunged forward towards his attacker, ramming him in his middle with his head. Taking the opening of stunning him, Lance brought down his elbow to the side of the man's face, rushing behind him to kick his sides and, literally, kick his ass. Once the attacker was on the ground, Lance stepped on him with his foot, grinding his heel into his back.

Keith was terrified. Lance was beyond furious. Keith swore Lance had been possessed by pure rage.

"I thought I told you, he isn't giving you shit. You thought you could take me out because I'm skinny, huh? Guess **fucking** what? You're an even bigger _**pendejo**_ than I thought." Lance seethed, briefly stomping on the back of the man's neck.

Lance grabbed the man's hood and yanked his head back.

" _¿Qué te vas hacer?_ "

"I-I...I'm gonna piss off..."

"Good."

Lance stepped away from the man, leaning against the wall he had been thrown against a short while ago. He fixed his cold blue eyes on the figure lifting itself up from the ground, staring at him until he had fled. After waiting a few seconds he sank back to the ground, breathing heavily.

Keith took the chance to move from his hiding place and kneeled down in front of Lance, worry and fear making his heart beat wildly against his ribs.

"Lance! Lance, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"What... ...Keith? Why are you-" Lance cut himself off as he winced in pain, reaching a hand to hold his middle.

"Don't talk, I'm gonna help you, okay? Uh, is it ok to help you up?"

Lance nodded, extending his free hand for Keith to grab. Keith took his hand and lifted Lance to his feet; he quickly positioned himself so Lance was leaning on him.

"I think we might be close to my place...yeah, I think I recognized one of the streets here. I'm gonna take you back to my place to patch you up, ok?"

"Sure, that's fine," Lance grunted.

Keith started to walk out of the alley with Lance, desperate that he was right and that his house was near. If he was wrong, Keith was sure he might lose it in the middle of the street. He walked as quickly as he could, mindful of Lance's pain. Reaching the corner he read the sign and was overwhelmed with joy that yes, he did read that street right and yes, his house was close by.

The walk to Keith's place was agonizing for Keith, but he couldn't imagine what Lance was feeling. He just watched him get beat down and then beat his attacker back. With the injuries he had, Keith wasn't sure how he managed to do it. Sure, Keith had been in fights before, but it helped that he carried a hand knife on him to scare his attackers before he got seriously injured. Lance had nothing but his fists. He was seriously impressed. Seeing Lance fight back was like watching a cat fight a dog.

Relief filled his heart when he saw the pale red house that he and Shiro called home. He walked Lance up to the gray door and opened it, leading Lance to the black couch in their living room. Gently he set down Lance, making sure his head was placed correctly on the pillow.

"I'm going to get you an ice pack ok? And I'm going to look for our first aid kit. Sit tight."

Keith took off, nearly breaking the door of the freezer and grabbing the first ice pack he saw, wrapping it in the cloth used to dry wet dishes. After getting the ice to Lance, he sped toward the bathroom, searching the cabinet beneath the sink for the familiar white kit. Finding the kit, he walked back to Lance; sitting down at the end of the couch, Keith opened the kit to take out rubbing alcohol and bandages. He looked at the supplies then to Lance, who was holding the ice below his right eye.

"I'm gonna clean your wounds, is that okay? Or do you want to do it yourself?"

Lance was quiet, staring at the bottle of alcohol before looking back up at Keith.

"You can clean my face; I'll do the rest."

Keith nodded, holding out his hand for the ice pack. After being handed the ice, Keith removed the cloth that covered the ice; he rolled it tightly before dousing the tip of the cloth in rubbing alcohol. He looked up to Lance, eyes silently asking if he could continue. Lance closed his eyes, Keith taking that as a 'yes.'

He started with a cut on the left of his jaw. He froze when Lance hissed.

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. Keep going."

Keith hesitated before continuing. Deciding that he spent enough time on the cut, he moved on to a scrape at the corner of his left eyebrow. As he cleaned the wound, his eyes drifted to Lance's face. Lance looked calm, almost serene, as if he hadn't just come out of an alley after getting into a fight. Keith felt a light, fluttering in his chest but chalked it up to admiration of Lance holding his own in a fight. After cleaning that, he moved to another scrape on the bridge of his nose.

"Should I expect an answer if I ask?"

"Huh?"

"Why were you there?"

_'Shit. Ok Keith, what was there? There was a liquor store, a laundromat, a dollar store, and a pawn shop.'_

"I was...buying something at the dollar store there. We were running low on string for our flower crowns so Shiro sent me to get more. I noticed you while I was looking around inside, so I went out to see what you were up to." Keith lied, hoping Lance would buy it.

"Oh, ok."

Keith sighed internally, grateful that Lance couldn't see the look of relief on his face. He felt bad about lying, quite literally, to Lance's face, but he couldn't tell him he was following him because he was so intrigued by his anger. Keith was thankful that Lance bought his shitty lie, but when you're in pain, you don't really think about much other than the pain, do you?

Moving along, Keith focused on cleaning the few cuts and scrapes left. Keith cleaned a scrape in the middle of Lance's right eyebrow, and a cut along his right jaw.

"Oh."

"Mm? What is it?"

"You have a cut on your bottom lip..."

Lance stuck out his tongue, dragging it along his lip until he reached the cut. Tasting the iron, he brought back his tongue.

"Huh, I do. Damn; this is gonna take a while to heal. What am I supposed to tell them...?"

Keith was stunned for a moment. He wasn't sure why; all Lance did was check the cut with his tongue. Why was that bothering him so much? And why was his face heating up?

"Tell who?"

"My parents. Ugh, I'll just tell them I bit my lip while I was eating. Make-up can cover my face."

"You sound like you've been through this before."

"Yeah. Thanks to my big brother. He taught me how to fight while we lived in Balmera."

"Did you fight often?"

"Yeah. My fights and some of my brothers fights as well. But now that he's away, I have to take on his fights. I hate it."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, s'not like it was your fault."

"Still, you shouldn't have to fight. Do you want to talk about it?"

Lance was silent for a moment before answering.

"Yeah. As a way of saying thanks; and also I'm kinda bleeding on your couch, so maybe this is payment?" Lance laughed. "When I moved to Balmera, I got shit for being new. Basic stuff, right? Well, my bro...he just made a bunch of crappy choices and "friends" and it all came back to bite him in the ass. He thought it was killing two birds with one stone as he taught me to fight to defend myself from bullies and to help him if I was around when he got cornered. It was good; I felt invincible since I could take on anyone. Bro even got me a pair of brass knuckles. He said as long as you got a weapon, just flash it and people would leave me alone. And he was right. But when I was in his fights I'd get all beat up and my parents would lose it. Said my bro was a bad influence, why couldn't he be more like my sister, you're ruining your little brother, all that. He didn't listen; and I didn't either. I still got in fights with him, but he always carried around bandages and rubbing alcohol in his car to take care of our bruises. My sister knew she couldn't really stop me, so she taught me how to hide bruises with makeup. But now that my brother is away, he isn't around to handle his fights. I hate that he pretty much dumped it all on me, but I can't really do anything."

"What kind of fights did your brother get into?"

"...all kinds. For all different causes. Now he just wants it to stop."

Keith wanted to ask more about the fights, but he felt as though he'd be pushing Lance. Even if his eyes weren't open, Lance still looked uncomfortable talking about his brother. He'd just have to take what he could and decided to end the talk.

"I see. I suppose it's good that your brother taught you something to protect yourself, but it's worrisome that you have to take on his burdens. It doesn't sound right. You shouldn't have to get hurt because of him."

Lance opened his eyes. He stared at Keith, his eyes conveying surprise and wonder.

"...thank you. That's really nice of you to say, Keith."

Lance gave him a small smile, reaching for the cloth that Keith still held.

"I can handle the rest; mind showing me where the bathroom is?"

Keith nodded dumbly as he carried the rest of the rubbing alcohol and bandages while showing Lance to their bathroom. Setting the supplies down on the small counter of the sink, he left, closing the door behind him.

The moment he heard the 'click' of the door closing, Keith rushed back to the living room and set about to cleaning up. Lance was right in that he did kind of bleed on the couch, and the ice was making a wet spot where Shiro usually sat. He grabbed the ice and placed it back in the freezer, grabbing some spare hand towels used for drying dishes and cleaning spills to press into the damp spot on the couch. He ran one under warm water and, after setting down the cloths to dry the wet spot, set to cleaning the blood off the couch. He marked his progress with the slow progression of the white cloth slowly browning with the blood it picked up. Keith switched between cleaning off the blood and drying the wet spot until he saw Lance emerge from the bathroom.

"Oh, you should've said something! Here, I'll help." Lance said, quickly joining Keith at the couch, taking the bloodied cloth and cleaning the remaining blood.

The two worked in comfortable silence until Keith checked the spots and deemed their work acceptable. Keith took the cloths and washed the bloody one; after washing the cloth, he set the others to dry along the handle of the stove.

"Oh shit, it's nearly three, I gotta go, man," Lance said, eyes locked on his phone's screen.

"I'll walk with you."

"No, it's cool. You've already done a lot for me today. Plus don't you have to buy that string for the crowns?"

"Huh? O-oh, yeah, I do." Keith stuttered, nearly forgetting about his lie.

"So I'll just go ahead," Lance said, heading towards the door.

"I'll walk out with you," Keith said, joining Lance at the door.

Once both were outside, Lance patted his pockets, making sure he had everything with him. He took a few steps before turning back towards Keith.

"Thanks again for helping me. Uh, if I can ask you, please don't tell anyone about this?"

"Uh, sure."

"Thank you. Let me make this up to you sometime, yeah? Hasta la later, Keith!" Lance called as he began running towards the street.

Keith stood at his door, watching Lance's figure running until he disappeared behind a neighbor's house. Once he was gone from his sight, Keith leaned against the door, his mind replaying the events from today; watching Lance get beat up, Lance fighting back, walking Lance back to his house to clean his bruises, actually touching Lance's face while cleaning, the information behind how Lance knew how to fight and the small tidbit of his time in Balmera.

He also recalled the feelings he felt. His admiration of Lance's tenacity to fight back, the slight surge of fear when he saw Lance furiously grinding his foot into the back of his attacker, his adrenaline of getting Lance back to his house, that strange feeling when he watched Lance lick his lip to check for the cut, and his sudden mind blank when Lance smiled at him.

_'There's gotta be more behind him. What's your story, Lance?'_

Keith crossed his arms in thought. He needed more answers, that was all. More reasons to talk to Lance are what he needed; maybe that would explain these new feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! That new season huh? Now the wait for season 3. I decided to make this longer to celebrate season 2 and as a way of sorry for going quiet. Things've been rough but I'll keep writing! Hope you all enjoy this chapter! If u ever wanna shoot me a hi or ask me something about the fic, hit up my tumblr, data-roxass.tumblr.com
> 
> [remember to rate the fic, comment the fic and subscribe for more fics similar to this one, see ya]


	9. Chapter 9

Keith kept his word. When he made his way back to the flower shop, he made sure to drop by the dollar store and buy the string for crowns to have proof of his presence there. He came back to a disgruntled Hunk and upset Shiro; Keith tried to make up for his sudden disappearance by taking on Hunk's job of making petunia crowns, along with his own task of making flower wreaths.

The next day, as Keith was working more on his flower crowns when Allura and Lance came in again.

"Hey Keith; what're you up to?" Lance asked, heading over to the counter Keith was working at, lazily leaning onto the wood.

"Work. Shiro needs these crowns done by today so he can preserve them for a delivery he has to make tomorrow. Something about a birthday."

"Oh yeah, speaking of birthdays, isn't yours coming up?" Lance asked, glancing to Allura.

"You remembered?"

"Madam you wound me," Lance mockingly cried, feigning hurt as he placed a hand daintily on his chest, "how could I forget such a date?"

Allura laughed as she playfully waved away Lance's display. "I'm just kidding, you've never forgotten. I sort of forget myself; but that's why I have you. You're like a walking calendar."

"Oh, it's your birthday soon? Happy early birthday." Keith said

"Aw, thank you, Keith! Instead of saying that, why don't you celebrate with me? I wanted to invite you and Hunk as well anyway."

"What do you have planned?"

"Just a trip to the movies before heading back to my place to hang out; nothing that big."

"That sounds nice," Keith commented.

"So, are you in or are you in?" Allura asked, smirking at Keith as if he could say no.

"Sure, I'm in." Keith chuckled

"Awesome!" Allura smiled, eyes lighting up with excitement.

"What's the plan birthday girl? We gonna get the shit scared out of us or we getting emotional?" Lance asked.

"There's another Ring movie dropping in a few days and I've been wanting to see it! I think it looks promising." Allura said.

"Scary, got it," Lance laughed, "I'll warn Hunk before hand then."

"As for the date," Allura hummed, one of her hands holding her head as she stared at the ceiling in thought, "we can't do it on my actual birthday since I celebrate with my family then, and going to the movies on a premier day is expensive..."

"When exactly does the movie come out?" Keith asked.

"About...two days from now. My birthday is six days from now."

"Then we should go the day after the movie drops," Lance suggested.

"That sounds good." Keith agreed.

"Prefect! Oh," Allura gasped, looking to Keith, "I wanted to ask if...maybe this sounds like Shiro would be...interested in?"

"Huh? I can try asking if that's what you want." Keith offered, gauging the sudden shy demeanor Allura adopted regarding his brother.

"Yeah, ask. You see him more often than I do...you don't have to; I mean, he doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to but, I'd feel bad if I at least didn't offer..."

"I get it, I get it." Keith chuckled.

"Hey Allura, how do I look?"

Allura and Keith looked to where Lance now stood; in front of the flower crown display. Lance was sporting a crown of gardenia flowers, their white petals contrasting with the warm chestnut of Lance's hair.

"You look nice."

"Keith, you got any thoughts?" Lance asked, flicking his ocean eyes to Keith.

Keith couldn't understand why he somehow couldn't speak. Lance was just asking him a question, why can't he answer? He only focused on how Lance looked; the soft white standing out against Lance's skin and hair, his eyes seemed to be even brighter when paired with the island flowers. It just complimented Lance so well.

"You're lovely." Was all Keith could get out.

The shop went dead quiet. Lance's eyes widened in surprise, heat coloring his face; Allura stared at Keith in disbelief of what he just said. Keith felt a matching heat rise to his face after replaying what he just said.

"I MEAN-I mean, that's what they mean. G-gardenia flowers, in the language of flowers they mean 'you're lovely.' Th-that's why I, ah, said that." Keith stuttered, looking everywhere but at Lance.

"Oh...I see." Lance mumbled, looking away as a hand hid his face.

"They, uh, do look nice on you. The color contrasts with your skin and makes your eyes pop." Keith added, cursing himself for opening his mouth again.

Allura looked as if she was in physical pain; she was holding her hands over her mouth and tears threatened to escape from her eyes. Lance, meanwhile, was turning redder by the second.

"O-o-oh, really? Thank y-you for s-saying that." Lance said, his words muffled by his hands hiding his reddening face.

"C-cmon Lance," Allura said, fighting her fit of giggles as placed a hand on Lance's shoulder, "I'll buy it and then we ca-ahaha-an go."

After money was exchanged between a giggling Allura and a mortified Keith, Allura led Lance out of the shop, crown still on his head and his face still buried in his hands. As soon as they left, Keith groaned into his own hands, cursing himself for saying what he did. He just meant to tell them the meaning of the flowers! And Lance did ask how the crown looked on him. All he did was offer his own opinion!

"God I'm terrible at talking." Keith groaned, stewing in his embarrassment for the better part of the day.

As the day drew closer to its end, Keith noticed that Lance left earlier than he usually did. Not that Keith had started noticing Lance leaving and had a general idea of when Lance ended his shift. Definitely not that. But then he wondered what Lance was doing that he left early. He then recalled the fight he witnessed not too long ago. Keith felt unease settle in his bones; Lance was fighting again? Was it his own? Or was it another of his brother's? What if he got even more beat up than the last time? He'll admit that Lance's bruises from the last fight weren't that bad, but he couldn't help the thought of a badly beat up Lance lying in an alley. God what if the other guy brought a weapon and Lance got a serious injury?

"Keith are you ok?"

Keith was so caught up in his thoughts that he jumped when questioned by Hunk. He glanced to Hunk, slightly worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Keith wondered if Hunk knew about Lance getting into fights, but he didn't want to say anything since he promised Lance he wouldn't. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Uh, sure. I'm good." He opted to say instead.

"Keith, you've been staring at the tattoo parlor for so long I think you melted the glass with your stare. What's wrong?" Hunk asked, crossing his arms. Oh no, now Hunk is standing his ground. Keith knew Hunk wasn't going to let this go until he got an answer out of him. Damn him for being so caught up in Lance's wellbeing that he forgot to not stare at his workplace.

"Uhm...I was just...thinking about Allura's offer to hang out with her for her birthday." Keith got out, looking anywhere besides his friend who was staring him down.

"Keith," Hunk sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides, "we both know you're a shitty liar. Is it that you don't want to tell me?"

"No! But..." Keith sighed. He didn't know what to do at this point. He really just wanted to leave, but he knew Hunk was doing this because he was worried for him. Keith couldn't tell him to leave, he'd just feel like an asshole later.

"How about this; I guess what's bothering you and if I get it right, you spill. Deal?" Hunk asked.

"Okay." Keith relented.

"Is it about Lance?"

'God damn it.'

Hunk gave him a questioning look, even quirking both his eyebrows up in question. It took a few seconds for Keith to realize he blurted out his previous thought.

_'Fucking damn it.'_ He thought, making sure he actually thought it instead of saying it aloud like an idiot.

Keith reluctantly nodded.

"Ok Keith. I got it right, so tell me."

Keith took a deep breath as he worked out what he was going to say. How could he talk about Lance but avoid the fight?

"I-"

Keith was cut off by the sound of the door opening. Looking at the door, he saw it was Pidge and...

"Hey Lance, Pidge." Hunk greeted, switching from determined but caring friend to bright and sunny friend.

"Hey, Hunk." Pidge replied, lifting their hand in acknowledgment.

"What brings you guys here?"

"Allura wanted some poppies so, here we are," Lance said, a small strain in his smile.

"Are you okay Lance?" Hunk asked, quirking an eyebrow in question.

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"Why's there blood smeared under your nose?"

Keith saw the tiniest hint of horror flash across Lance's face, nearly smacking himself in the face from how quickly he brought up his hand to cover the spot Hunk pointed out.

"He smacked his face against the door," Pidge replied, moving their body slightly as if to cover Lance with their small frame. "He's fine."

"Are you really-"

"He's. Fine." Pidge said, punctuating each word with such a cold tone that Keith was positive he saw Hunk wither. Lance, from behind Pidge, looked relieved but uncomfortable.

"Can we just get the flowers?" Lance asked no one in particular, his usually loud voice more muted in volume. Pidge looked at Lance over their shoulder, their face looking at him with worry and concern.

Tension settled among the shop. It was so heavy Keith was sure it would smother the flowers and kill their entire stock, effectively running them out of business. While he was ringing up Pidge, he stole glances at Lance.

Sure enough, underneath his nose, there was smeared blood. The rest of his face looked ok, the cut on his bottom lip from his last fight was still in the process of healing, having scabbed over and creating a dull red line. Trailing down, he couldn't find anything else on his torso since his shirt was fairly high with its collar, though he did see his collarbones jut out from the collar. Swallowing, Keith tried looking at Lance's hands and saw some discoloration on his fingers. He wasn't sure if it was from the last fight he helped him from or a recent one, but he was able to identify the discoloration as bruises. Keith also thought he saw circular imprints on each of Lance's fingers; all identical.

Before he could even get a word in to try and get Lance into a conversation, Pidge grabbed the flowers, leading both them and Lance towards the door before muttering a "thanks" over their shoulder. Watching the two walk back to their workplace, Hunk and Keith saw Lance stop in front of the door, making Pidge stop halfway in between opening it. They stood for a bit, lips moving but the conversation inaudible due to distance. At the end Pidge merely smirked and gave a playful shove to Lance, nodding their head towards the now open door and closing it behind the two of them.

"Hey, you two. What's going on?"

Both florists slightly jumped at the sound of their boss's voice.

"Oh, nothing?" Hunk said.

"Yeah, nothing's happening. Oh!" Keith gasped, remembering his conversation with Allura earlier, "Allura is having a small birthday party and she wants to know if you would like to go."

"Really? What's she doing?" Shiro asked, his face showing interest.

"She's planned for us to go to a movie and then just relax at her place."

"Hmm," Shiro hummed, looking up at the ceiling in thought, "sure, I'll go. She invited me even if she didn't have to, so I don't want to turn her down."

"Cool, I'll let Lance know to tell her," Hunk said, pulling out his phone to text Lance.

"Anyways guys it's getting late, so lets lock up," Shiro said, pulling out his set of master keys.

Locking up, Hunk waved at Keith and Shiro as he walked to his car, an old yellow buggy. Keith and Shiro walked home, figuring the walking was good for their health and they didn't live terribly far, so they saved on gas.

"You never did tell me what movie Allura planned for us to see," Shiro said, breaking the silence between the two.

"Oh, it's a scary movie."

"You think you can handle it?" Shiro teased, a familiar smirk tugging the corners of his mouth.

"Shut up; I'm fine with those kinds of movies."

"Last time you said that you made me walk you to the bathroom every night and bring a flashlight too."

"I was twelve," Keith muttered, sending his older brother a glare.

"'It's ok Shiro!'" Shiro said, doing his best to imitate his younger brother, "'I'm tough enough to watch Saw with you!'"

"Oh my god. You're never gonna let that go are you?" Keith sighed.

"Nope."

Keith groaned in annoyance, grateful that they had finally made it home. After Shiro had unlocked their door, Keith headed to the bathroom to wash up in order to help Shiro make dinner. He was in the middle of drying his hands when his phone went off.

_'Hm? Hunk never texts me at this time...'_

Pulling his phone out, he read the message that appeared on his lock screen.

'Hey Keith, this is Lance! Hope it's okay for me to text you, Hunk thought this would be easier instead of him acting as a messenger. Wanted to tell you that Allura said that you gotta pay for yourselves and that there'll be drinks at her place if you're interested. Oh, and Pidge will be tagging along too. That was all, good night!'

Keith stared at the message in disbelief. He was a little surprised that Hunk had given Lance his number without talking to him about it. But then again, he now had a way to talk to Lance other than face to face. He would've just ignored it, except he had opened his messages and Keith felt bad if he didn't say anything. So he hastily typed a reply.

'Oh, hey Lance. Thanks for the heads up. Good night.'

_'I really suck at talking.'_ Keith thought as he looked at the reply he typed. It wasn't that good in his opinion, but it was something. Before he knew it, he had hit send again. Looking at the second text, he felt his stomach drop.

'Did you get in another fight again today?'

Keith shoved his phone back into his pocket, ignoring its existence as he focused on cooking dinner. He and Shiro made a simple dinner of spaghetti with a side of salad; they sat in comfortable silence when a loud buzz interrupted it. Keith nearly jumped in his seat when the buzz was followed by another, then another.

"Someone's popular this evening." Shiro laughed, amusement on his face as he watched Keith completely turn off his phone.

"It's nothing, let's just finish eating," Keith grumbled, nearly stuffing his face to get out of talking.

After dinner was had and dishes were washed, Keith went to his room. He always felt at ease in his room; the familiar semi-messy space where he could unwind. On his walls were posters of space and various clippings from newspapers and magazines about aliens. The truth is out there, he believed. The universe is too large and unexplored for humans to be the only beings, so he always followed certain "unusual" stories.

Falling on his bed, he turned on his phone to see who has sent him so many messages.

It was Lance.

'You saw me leave, huh?'

'Yeah, I did get into another fight. But I'm fine, don't worry.'

'Pidge helped me, so I'm alright. That's sorta why they got on edge about the blood under my nose. Pidge was just looking out for me was all, so don't think badly of them please.'

'Besides, I had knuckles on me this time, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Been a while since I used them so my fingers kind of hurt, but I'm fine.'

Keith read over the messages again and was about to send one of his own when another popped up.

'I'm sorry, I rambled. I didn't mean to; I'm alright is all.'

Keith quickly typed his own response to Lance's texts.

'No, no, it's ok! I did ask, so you're just telling me. I was worried about you. I saw the indents and bruises on your fingers and was worried you were hurt in a fight. Thanks for telling me. I'm glad you're ok.'

Keith looked over his reply before hitting send. He wasn't sure why he asked. Lance looked uneasy in the flower shop, so Keith should've just left him alone. But Keith felt worried when he saw the blood under Lance's nose and the bruises on his fingers. Now he was picturing Lance in an alley, brass knuckles on his hands as he fought with some big burly man. Keith remembered how Lance moved during the last fight, and how he overpowered his opponent. And Lance's eyes; those pools of calm, playful blue were instead a raging storm of anger and pure fury. Keith was pulled out of his recollection when his phoned chimed.

'Thanks. It's nice to be worried over. I'm usually the one who worries over others.'

'Crap, hey, I have to go. See you when I see you. Night Keith!'

'Good night, Lance.'

After hitting send, Keith put his phone to charge while he changed into a pair of sweatpants to sleep in. After changing, he looked at his phone; Keith opened his messages and re-read his chat with Lance. Then he read it again. Then again. He felt bummed that their chat was so short, but there was something else. Some other feeling that came up while he was reading their messages.

Keith lay in bed thinking about the nameless feeling before he finally fell asleep.  
                     _______________

The movie day Allura had planned arrived. Both Allura and Shiro closed their shops respectively for the day, and everyone met in front of the movie theater. As it turned out, the theater was actually hosting a variety of horror movies, much to Allura's delight.

"Wow, they have so many good choices!" Allura beamed, reading the various posters displayed on the outside of the theater.

"Uh, are they seriously showing only horror movies? There's nothing else?" Hunk asked, voice squeaking the longer he spoke.

"It'll be fine Hunk! Nothing in the movies are real!" Allura joked, patting Hunk on the shoulder.

"Although the spiritual based ones are your favorites, right?" Pidge asked, looking at Allura from the corner of their eyes as they took in a poster for Carrie.

"Yeah; something as real as spirits and ghosts, something that cannot be seen but are the most destructive is so fascinating! And the stories of encounters are so intriguing!" Allura replied, her expression too cheerful for the subject she was talking about.

"The Ring movie you wanted to see is sold out," Keith called out, reading the movie's marquee.

"Oh...and I wanted to see that one the most..." Allura mumbled, slightly pouting before composing herself again. "That's alright, I have another movie in mind that we can see!"

Before anyone could ask what, they all watched as she walked to the ticket booth and asked for six tickets for The Conjuring.

Ushering them inside, Allura handed each of them their tickets and shooed Hunk and Pidge away to find perfect spots for them all to sit. Allura appointed herself, Shiro, Lance, and Keith to grab snacks. As they got closer to the snack counter, Allura looked annoyed, as well as Lance.

"Something wrong?" Shiro asked.

"Ugh, Lotor is working today," Allura sighed.

"Who?" Keith asked.

Lance pointed to the lithe man wearing a disinterested look on his face. The man was leaning against the counter, resting his head in one hand while the other took to playing with his own platinum blonde hair.

"Lotor. We sort of know him since we come here often. He's...creepy. He always hits on Allura even after she's told him no a thousand times. Then he tried being friends with me and that was gross; but he just did it to see if he could get closer to Allura through me." Lance explained.

"How'd you know that?" Keith asked.

"I overheard him talking to what I guess were his friends one day. I've been wanting to catch him outside here just to beat him into the pavement since then," Lance replied, cracking his knuckles as if to further drive his point.

"Well, well, if it isn't my beautiful angel Allura." An eerily cold voice said. Allura and Lance grimaced; and even Keith and Shiro felt chills crawl up their backs at the voice that came from the man behind the counter.

"Lotor...you're working today?" Allura got out, looking uneasy at the event that was talking to Lotor.

"Well, even if I am the son of one of the richest men in technology, I humbly work here. And it also gives me the chance to see you, my dear," He replied, his words oozing with delight.

"Can you just give us our damn popcorn and drinks?" Lance cut in, looking agitated.

"Oh, you're here too," Lotor said, not even hiding the disdain in his voice. Looking to the Lance, he seemed to finally register that there were more people. "My Allura, who are these heathens?"

"This, actually," she said, wrapping an arm around Shiro's own arm, "is my boyfriend, Shiro."

Keith wasn't sure if Allura saw Shiro's sudden blush or his jump at the sudden contact. But he hoped the creep, Lotor, didn't.

"Boy...boyfriend?" Lotor said, his voice faltering.

"Yes, boyfriend. Now if you don't mind, I have friends waiting and want to get back to them soon," she replied.

Keith could see the smallest of grins on Allura and Lance's faces as they watched Lotor move somewhat stiffly. Lotor slammed down empty large cups as he went to bring over their large popcorn buckets. Keith was sure he heard Lance snort but decided not to press him about it. Or maybe he could, just to make him happy to have more of a chance to give Lotor a hard time. Keith didn't, as the last bucket was brought over and they could leave. Lance took the cups and a bucket while Keith grabbed two other buckets of popcorn, leaving Allura to hold the last one. At the soda fountain, Allura unlinked arms with Shiro to help fill their cups. Allura stopped to look at Shiro.

"I'm sorry. For grabbing your arm so suddenly. A-and," she stuttered, looking to the side, "saying you were my boyfriend. I must have made you uncomfortable."

"No!" Shiro exclaimed, causing Keith to raise an eyebrow, "No, I mean," Shiro faltered, grabbing the back of his neck as pink dusted his cheeks, "I don't-didn't mind at all..."

"Pfft, did you see his face though?" Lance cut in, a smirk on his face, "That was the best thing I've seen all day!"

"It was! I swore I saw him die inside and honestly? So happy. So blessed to have seen that," Allura answered, laughing a little.

"Yeah, fuck him honestly. He's gonna catch these hands when I see him outside this place. Won't even hesitate," Lance said, cracking his knuckles.

"You really don't like him, do you?" Keith asked, taking in Allura and Lance's words.

"No, I fucking hate him with every fiber of my entire being," Lance replied, looking at Keith with slight confusion as to why he asked that.

"Alright, enough talk, we have a movie to see!" Allura said, calling back everyone's attention.

Grabbing their now filled drinks and popcorn, they headed into the theater. It was dimly lit, the screen only playing the usual previews for upcoming movies. The theater was next to empty, the only other person in there was a worker who was sweeping leftovers from the previous crowd. Pidge and Hunk were seated in the center seats, seemingly in deep conversation about something. As they got closer, Pidge noticed their arrival and waved them over.

"We're back," Allura said, walking to sit next to Pidge.

"You guys took a while, are you ok?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah, Lance and Allura ran into...someone," Shiro answered, entering the aisle to sit next to Allura.

"Was it Lotor?" Pidge asked.

"Yeah," Lance sighed.

"Ew, gross. Sorry to hear that," Pidge said, grimacing at the mention of Lotor.

"Yeah. At least this is the only time we'll see him; we're still good to head to your place after this, right?" Lance asked, looking to Allura.

"Yeah. My dad and uncle should be out at work today so my house is free for us to trash," Allura joked.

"Nice," Lance replied, moving to enter the aisle before stopping and looking at Keith, "oh, do you want to go in first or do you want to sit at the end?" He asked.

"Oh, uh, I'll go in," Keith answered, moving in to sit next to his brother. Lance moved in after him, effectively sandwiching Keith between Shiro and Lance.

Passing out the popcorn and drinks, everyone talked over the remaining previews, Pidge and Lance providing their own commentary on what was happening in trailers; making guesses on how the movies would do once they released. When the lights turned off, everyone settled down and focused on the movie.

"'Based on a true story?' Oh no, really?" Hunk groaned.

"Shh," Pidge hushed.

Everyone was quiet and focused on the movie. Keith liked the opening shot; a recording of Mr. Warren speaking with the victims about the case regarding the haunted doll Annabelle.

"Oh fuck no haunted dolls are so creepy," Hunk whined.

"They actually made a movie about Annabelle. I have it on DVD at home! We can watch it there if you want," Allura offered.  
  
"No thanks!" Hunk whispered.

"Why would they let a ghost live with them? It's a ghost," Keith wondered, astounded that the victims said they had allowed the spirit to inhabit the doll.

"Not a ghost; shush," Pidge whispered.

Listening to them, Keith allowed the movie to explain that there was no ghost "Annabelle," rather it was an inhuman spirit; a demonic force. The doll was used as a conduit to get closer to the victims in order to possess them while tricking them into thinking they were simply a ghost.

"Gahh, that doll freaks me out," Lance shuddered, looking away temporarily from the screen to avoid seeing Annabelle's face.

Settling down, everyone focused on the text that was slowly ascending on the screen accompanied by ominous music. Keith felt goosebumps on his arms at the sound of it.

"What's a clairvoyant?" Shiro asked Allura.

"A clairvoyant is someone who can see the future. Lorraine, since she's a clairvoyant, is more sensitive to spirits and things like that, so she can see them," Allura explained. "I've been following the Warrens since I heard about their work in Amityville. Ed died some years ago, so Lorraine is continuing her work alone the poor thing."

"Oh, really?"

"Shh," Keith shushed, lightly hitting his brother on the arm.

"Aww, what a cute dog!" Hunk cooed, smiling at the dog of the family moving into the house.

"The dog knows," Lance whispered.

"Sure, investigate the dark and creepy cellar. Not like there isn't anything there. Wait, there is and it's gonna kill you!" Pidge commentated.

"Why are people in horror movies so dumb?" Lance wondered, giggling at Pidge's comment.

"Because without dumb people we wouldn't have entertainment," Allura answered.

"True," Lance replied.

"Oh that can't be a good sign..." Keith stated, seeing the bruise on the mother's leg.

"The clocks stopping at 3:07 aren't good either," Lance threw in.

"I hope Sadie wasn't cold sleeping outside," Hunk mumbled.

"She didn't want to go inside so of course she's gonna be cold," Pidge answered.

Seeing the youngest child in the film head outside and then scream, Hunk cried with her when the camera showed the family dog lying dead in the grass.

"The dog _dies_?! What the fuck?!"

"Hunk are you okay?" Lance asked, looking down the row to his friend.

"No, the dog is dead! She didn't do anything wrong!" Hunk said in between cries.

"I know, I'm upset too," Lance said, trying to comfort Hunk from a distance.

Keith was pulled away from a distressed Hunk when the film cut to a scene of the basement of the Warrens; filled with numerous haunted artifacts and, of course, the Annabelle doll.

"Wow," Keith breathed.

"That's the Occult Museum. It's in the actual basement of the Warren's home and is open to the public. I visited the place myself a few months ago!" Allura explained.

"Yeah, and you sent us all pictures," Pidge added, "I could feel the vibes of the ghosts coming from them," they shuddered.

"I can't believe you took a selfie in front of Annabelle," Lance sighed.

"Oh hush, I went after the room had been blessed, I'm fine," Allura huffed.

"No, creepy shit happened after you came back! Remember when I took you to a church to get blessed and the candles went out? You had something with you!" Lance whispered angrily.

"Well it's gone now, isn't it? It's fine," Allura said, waving away Lance's angry pout.

_'So Lance has a fear of the supernatural? That's pretty common,'_ Keith noted, taking in the tone of concern and worry hidden beneath Lance's anger.

"Wait, do ghosts smell? That kid said it stunk in her room," Hunk wondered.

"It's the spirit. It smells rotten when a spirit is moving," Allura explained.

"Sleepwalking is considered scary? I mean, I don't know what causes it but does that mean anything in this movie?" Shiro asked, looking to Allura.

"Not exactly? But where the daughter goes when she's sleepwalking is important," Allura answered.

"Hey, Pidge look it's you," Lance joked, referring to the pigeon that had hit the outside of the house and was struggling on the ground.

"God I wish that were me," Pidge replied, causing Lance to snort.

"Oh no the girl is talking to herself," Hunk groaned.

"She's talking to a ghost," Shiro corrected.

"That's even worse," Hunk replied.

"Bitch don't do it," Pidge commented when the mother took the mirror to see the "friend" her daughter was talking to.

"Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary,–" Keith chanted jokingly as the mother looked into the mirror.

"Do not finish that or I'll beat your ass into the ground," Lance half-heartedly threatened.

Keith laughed as Lance jumped from the small scare the daughter gave the mother. Lance did his best to give Keith a glare in the darkness of the theater but failed as his face fell into a smile; he joined in on laughing at himself until the mother was walking around the house blindfolded playing with her daughter.

"Oh fuck no," Lance breathed as the wardrobe opened and a pair of hands clapped to draw the mother closer.

"Why haven't they moved yet? It's obvious something's wrong," Shiro said.

"Because horror movies thrive off the stupidity of humans," Pidge answered.

As the movie progressed, popcorn and drinks were being slowly diminished by the group. Keith opted to ignore the brush of his fingers against Lance's when both decided to reach for popcorn and the rising heat in his face that followed. Hunk was trembling from the atmosphere of the movie, which was a vast improvement from earlier when he refused to even look at the screen. Keith figured Pidge's comments on some of the technical aspects of the film helped calm him down, which he'd have to thank Pidge for later once the movie was over. Shiro and Allura were completely absorbed in the movie; Keith was as well but found himself looking over to Lance. Lance was looking down at his feet for some parts, but more or less kept his head up. At the sound of shattering glass in the film, Keith saw Lance visibly jump out of the corner of his eye and was startled that Lance actually held on to Keith's arm. When the mother was suddenly tossed down the basement stairs and locked in, Lance buried his face into Keith's arm for a few moments before looking up at the screen again. At the sight of disembodied hands clapping next to the mother in the dark, Lance hid in Keith's arm again.

"L-Lance? Are you ok...?" Keith whispered. He didn't receive an answer verbally but saw Lance tremble in the little light the movie provided. Keith would've pressed further when the sound of knocking grabbed his attention. He faintly felt Lance lifting his head out of Keith's arm to look up.

"Oh my god don't do it," Lance whispered to the girl as she walked toward the wardrobe. Keith noticed out of the corner of his eye that Allura was holding onto Shiro's arm. At the sudden screech of instruments and zoom in on a sinister looking figure on the wardrobe that leapt from it, Keith startled as Lance let out a small scream and buried himself near Keith's shoulder. Keith heard Shiro ask Allura if she was alright, but his main focus was on Lance.

"Lance? Do you want to leave?" Keith asked.

"N-n-no, I'm okay. I d-d-don't wanna ruin the movie for you..." Lance spoke into Keith's sleeve.

"What's going on is that you have a demon in your house you dumb fucker!" Pidge yelled towards the screen.

The movie progressed, and Lance recovered. He was still shaking from what Keith could tell, but Lance seemed to be ok. Soon enough, Keith saw that they had reached the ending climax of the movie; the mother was tied to a chair by her husband and the Warrens in the basement for an exorcism. She had been possessed by the witch Bathsheba who killed herself and cursed the property. Keith looked over and saw Hunk sitting incredibly still and staring intently at the ground. Keith would remember to take him to see Shay tomorrow since she always seemed to improve his mood. Pidge was watching intently in intrigue; Allura was leaning against Shiro's arm as Shiro was completely absorbed in the movie. As the exorcism happened, Keith felt Lance grip tightly onto his arm. He didn't mind, as Keith was starting to feel uneasy himself. When the mother broke free of the restraints and ran to one of her daughters who she had brought to kill, Keith was sure he'd lose his arm from Lance's iron grip on his arm. Keith wouldn't admit this, but he was happy that he was able to be comforting to Lance in some way.

"Come on, fight it," Shiro whispered as Lorraine helped the mother fight back against Bathsheba by showing her the family she would lose if she gave in. Keith could feel his throat tighten at the lighting suggesting holiness shining down on the mother as images of her family flashed. For some reason, he felt terrified. Keith never knew his birth parents since they had died when he was still a baby, and he had been in an orphanage for years. He was certain he'd never really have a family until Shiro's mom–Keith's only mom–had come in to adopt him. He thought about what would happen if Shiro died. The last person he ever considered family, dead? He didn't like to think about it. But seeing the mother triumph against the witch, Keith was happy.

As the last scene of the movie played- the music box the youngest child used to see one of the ghosts on the property opened and playing its music- he felt a sudden rush of blood in his arm as Lance let go of him and sighed loudly.

"Thank god it's over," Lance sighed.

"So, what did you think?" Allura asked, eagerly looking to everyone and waiting for their opinions.

"Can we talk about this outside? Y'know, in sunlight?" Hunk asked.

"Of course!" Allura laughed as she stood up from her seat and stretched. Following her lead, everyone exited the darkness of the theater and blinked at the sudden flood of light that was the main lobby. Lance stopped in surprise at who was at the counter.

"Rolo?"

Rolo looked over to see who had called his name and gave Lance a lopsided grin.

"Heeeeey Lance," Rolo drawled, "how you doing?"

"Fine," he answered curtly.

"You know him?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah," Lance said, gesturing to Rolo, "this is Rolo. He's an old friend of my brother and my friend I guess by default."

"Guess what? This place is super chill about hiring so I've got this with my job at the garage and I'm making good money," he laughed, resting his head on his hand.

"That's nice. And Nyma?" Lance asked.

"She's still got her shift down at Olkarion," Rolo answered, "Oh yeah, your bro called me a while ago."

"Oh, did he?" Lance answered, not caring if anyone saw him stiffen.

"Yep. Said you did good. 'ppreciates what you're doin. Good reason we gave you your name," Rolo snickered.

"Name?" Pidge wondered.

"Hooo yeah, I don't think you know this, but I've known Lance as long as I've known his bro. And lemme tell you, the kid is gifted. Got the perfect name. Ain't that right, _'El Niño?'_ "

"'The Boy?'" Shiro wondered, cocking his head to the side.

"Nah, you don't get it. Name of one the biggest storms that hits the warmer waters. The name fools a lot of people but when it hits? Knocks those fuckers out."

"That's not my name anymore," Lance calmly said, trying to hide the disdain in his voice.

"Sure it ain't. But it still is to us. Your bro too," Rolo said.

"Of fucking course it is. Later, Rolo," Lance muttered as he trudged toward the exit.

"Yo, _Niño_ , wait!" Rolo called, quickly running after Lance. Everyone watched as Rolo stopped Lance outside, said a few words before handing him a piece of paper. Lance looked agitated and Rolo looked apologetic, but Lance merely sighed and pocketed the paper. Rolo gave him a few pats on the shoulder before turning to head back inside.

_'Did he get more fights from his brother?'_ Keith wondered as everyone headed out to join Lance.

"Lance, are you alright?" Allura asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Family stuff."

"What was that all about?" Hunk asked.

"Oh, uh, my brother called me that when I was younger...the name just stuck I guess," Lance replied.

"What did Rolo mean by 'gifted?'" Shiro questioned.

Lance looked at Shiro, setting his lips into a thin line as he thought about what to say. Keith wondered if he should cover for Lance, but he was barely able to pass off his lie to Lance, so he wasn't going to risk lying. Lance made a popping sound with his lips as he finally answered.

"Can't tell you that."

"What?"

"Family stuff. Extended family stuff."

"'Extended family?' You've never mentioned that before," Hunk said.

"No reason to ever bring it up." Lance quipped.

"Lance," Allura said in a warning tone.

Lance stopped after he heard Allura say his name. He looked at her for a moment before sighing heavily and looking to Hunk and Shiro.

"Sorry. I just...I don't like talking about it. My extended family is really...overwhelming, I guess; and I get agitated when I deal with them. I'm sorry," Lance apologized, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

"No, it's alright. You don't have to force yourself to talk about them," Shiro said.

"Yeah, sorry if I made you upset or pushed it," Hunk apologized.

Lance gave them a thankful smile before his attention was called towards Pidge, who had playfully punched him on the arm.

"Hey, that was as swift as a coursing river," Pidge grinned. Lance immediately grinned back.

"And you hit with all the force of a great typhoon," Lance replied.

"You've both got the strength of a raging fire," Allura chimed in, now wearing an identical grin to her two employees and friends.

"And we're all..." Pidge started.

"Mysterious as the dark side of the moon~!" The three sang in unison.

"Why the sudden Mulan?" Hunk asked.

"Lance brings over his collection of Disney dvds when I arrange a day for us to hang out. They're always great at lifting up moods!" Allura explained.

"Plus the songs are super catchy. They're 100% guaranteed to get people to start singing and cheer them up. Or start crying. Kind of a toss up honestly," Pidge said.

"I brought a few with me," Lance admitted.

"Oh, which ones?" Hunk asked.

"Let's leave that as a surprise and head to my place to watch!" Allura suggested.

"Sounds like a great idea," Shiro agreed.

"Then get in your cars and follow me!" Allura declared, taking Pidge with her as Shiro and Keith headed towards their car and Hunk headed to his. Everyone waited until Allura, in her white Mustang, was out of her parking spot and followed her. Lance was by her side since he had rode to the theater on his motorcycle.

"So, what did you think of the movie, Keith?" Shiro asked when they were at a red light.

"I liked it. I didn't think it was that scary though. What about you?"

"I liked it too. I never really thought about the supernatural, but seeing that movie sort of made me think about what we can't really explain. To know that spirits and demons exist is unnerving, to say the least."

Keith hummed in response as he propped his elbow against the window. He saw Lance turn towards Allura's car window and tap on it. He could tell he was speaking since Lance was using a free hand to emphasize his words; Keith wished Lance rode without his helmet, but he'd be dead if he didn't, so Keith let the matter go.

"Do you think I upset Lance?" Shiro asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Keith asked, pulled out of his observation of Lance.

"Back at the movies when I asked him what Rolo meant when he said Lance was 'gifted.' Do you think I made him upset?"

"Well, yeah," Keith said bluntly, "But you apologized. So I think he let it go."

"I hope so," Shiro sighed.

Keith didn't like to see Shiro upset, but he did ask Keith for his thoughts. He suddenly remembered how he acted when Allura called Shiro her boyfriend and the glimpses he saw of Allura holding onto Shiro during the movie.

"It's kind of weird."

"Hm? What is?"

"Allura was super excited about the movie. I didn't think she'd be scared. And yet I saw her holding onto you," Keith said, sending Shiro a sly grin.

"W-Well," Shiro stammered, "it's a horror movie in the end. It's natural to be scared, i-isn't it?"

"Really? From the girl who said she visited a museum of haunted shit and suggested she has a wide collection of horror movies at home? Sounds like she wouldn't be scared at all."

"That's true..."

"So why would she be hanging onto your arm like she was scared?"

"Oh look, we're here!" Shiro said, ending the conversation his little brother was trying to start. Parking behind Hunk's yellow buggy, Shiro and Keith got out and stood with Hunk as they waited for Allura to park. Keith noticed that Lance wasn't nearby, which he thought was odd since he technically should've gotten here quicker since he was on a motorcycle.

"Hey," Keith started, walking over to Allura who had gotten out of her car, "where's Lance?"

"Oh, he offered to get snacks; he's at the liquor store nearby," Allura answered, locking her car, "Good idea too; I don't really have snacks here. And if you don't want beer then you'd be stuck with water, and that's kind of boring for a hang-out."

"Let's head inside. He has a key to your place, right?" Pidge asked.

"Yeah; follow me if you please," Allura said, leading everyone to the front door.

Keith didn't notice since he had been occupied with asking about Lance, but Allura's home was really nice, Keith thought. It probably costed more than Keith made in a year. It was a two story home with a balcony facing the street and garage attached to it. Keith could see the plants that grew on the balcony; some of them were flowers he recognized. Amaryllis, crocus, lavender heather, pink roses, and even dandelions.

"Here is my home, please make yourselves comfortable," Allura announced as she opened the door.

Keith was amazed at how inviting the inside looked. The warm brown couches and matching rug toned down the formality of the grand piano tucked in the corner. Photos of a young Allura decorated the walls along with photos of who Keith guessed were her family. A stairway leading to the second floor sat behind the piano. A hallway stretched out, leading them all to a kitchen and living room area with a small dining table in between the two spaces.

"Wow, this is a nice place!" Hunk exclaimed in awe.

"Thanks," Allura giggled

"Do you play piano?" Shiro asked.

"Oh, yes; my mother loved piano and I inherited her love of it as well. It's something I like to do to unwind after I've had a long day," Allura answered, smiling fondly.

"Should I go get your laptop from your room? Or did you leave it down here?" Pidge asked.

"Good question," Allura replied, walking to the hybrid kitchen living room area. Her eyes quickly scanned the couches there and the table before she turned to Pidge, "Can you get it please?"

"On it!" Pidge responded, quickly heading up the staircase.

"Over here," Allura called to the others. Hunk, Keith, and Shiro followed her to the mixed space, seeing her look through a cabinet near the tv there.

"What is all that?" Keith asked.

"Oh, these are movies!" Allura replied, "I do have some games here on the lower shelf but I don't really want to start until Lance is here."

Keith past Allura and read the titles he could see: Ju-On: The Grudge, Battle Royale, Scream, The Ring, Evil Dead, Saw, Friday the 13th-

_'Wait, is that..?'_ Keith squinted as he read the next title. The Conjuring. _'That's the movie we saw today. So she's seen it before? Was she just acting scared then?'_

"Here it is," Pidge yelled as they came down the stairs and into the area.

"Thank you," Allura said as she took the laptop from Pidge's hands, "How about we play a game?"

"Game?" Shiro asked.

"Mhm. Pidge made me a Steam account, and this game only one person needs to own it. You can play from your phones!"

"Sure, that sounds great!" Shiro agreed.

"Then it's settled. Go and sit yourselves down on the couches and I'll get this set up."

They did as asked and claimed a spot for themselves; Pidge took the sole lounging chair, Hunk, Keith, and Shiro sat on the love-seat. Allura, after connecting her laptop to the tv, took out her phone and opened Steam.

"Ok so," Allura started as she clicked on the game, "you need your phone to play. Go to jackbox.tv and wait for the room code."

"Room code?" Keith asked.

"Yeah," Pidge interceded, "this game is called Jack Box Games. This is the third party pack since this one has the most entertaining games. There's five games on this that we can play but there's a code you have to have to be able to play."

"And we have to pick which one to play first. Just pick which ever one you think is interesting," Allura finished.

Keith read the list to himself as Shiro and Hunk did the same. The options were Trivia Murder Party, Tee K.O., Quiplash 2, Guesspionage, and Fakin' It.

"How about Trivia Murder Party?" Keith suggested. Shiro posed no objections and neither did Hunk.

"Ok!" Allura said as she launched the game, "Oh yeah, you'll need to come up with a name."

Keith entered the room code and saw the next screen. He just put in his own name. Looking up at the screen he saw the dolls on the screen being selected. His ended up being a blue shark-like doll. Keith ended up chuckling as he saw the small orange one claimed with the name 'HunkyMonkey.' Keith saw Shiro put his own name when the purple doll was selected. Pidge, who had taken the green doll, decided to name themselves 'GreenMenace.' Allura, who was locked as the pink doll, named herself 'SpookyRoyal.'

"Ok, so here's how the game works," Allura began to explain, "the game is going to ask a question. Answer it; you're safe if you get it right, you end up dying if you get it wrong. It's like a normal trivia game with consequences. Got it?" With a nod from everyone, Allura smiled. "Let's get our trivia on then!" She laughed as she hit 'start game.'

Keith had a good feeling about the game when the first question was where Area 51 was. The only person who had gotten the question wrong was Shiro.

"Dude, everyone knows Area 51 is in Nevada," Pidge commented.

"Hopefully the Killing Floor is kind and gives you the finger cutting game," Allura laughed.

The game decided to give Shiro the chalices punishment. Keith could see Shiro's slight unease when he had to pick a chalice that he felt was safe from poison. A few seconds later a stock clip of screaming played as Shiro's doll was dead.

"Thanks for the money," Pidge snickered as they were given an extra thousand dollars for poisoning Shiro.

At the next question, the front door opened.

"The fun has arrived~!" Sang the voice. Footsteps towards the room lead to the reveal of the voice's owner.

"Um, you mean the lame? The fun is right here," Pidge replied, holding up their phone.

"You guys started a game without me? I'm hurt," Lance said, mocking sadness and wiping a non-existent tear from his eye.

"Maybe don't take such a long time then," Pidge replied.

"Psh, sure. Allura, let me in on the next round before we start a movie, yeah?"

"Of course Lance," She replied.

"Cool. Lemme just take a seat," Lance said as he set down the bags he brought in and headed towards the space between Hunk's and Keith's legs.

"Uh, are you sure you're ok to sit there?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, 's fine," Lance assured him, leaning back so he was resting against the small spot of couch left, "Anyone died yet?"

"Shiro. Didn't know where Area 51 was," Pidge answered.

"Seriously?" Lance laughed.

"I know, right? Shocking."

"I-I thought it was New Mexico!" Shiro said defensively.

"That was the Roswell landing," Lance clarified.

"Hush you two, the times almost up to answer the question!" Allura said.

"What?" Lance asked, looking at the screen to read the question, "'How do I let someone know I'm interested on Tinder?' Pfft, you swipe right, duh."

"How do you know that?" Hunk asked.

"Doesn't everyone know? It's kind of something I thought everyone knows. Like, Babe Ruth or something," Lance explained.

"Guess not since Hunk, Shiro and Keith got it wrong," Pidge stated, drawing everyone's attention to the screen.

"Lucky, you got the finger cutting game," Lance commented.

"Wait, what does this do?" Keith asked.

"Pick a finger and cut it off, what does it sound like?" Pidge answered.

"The finger you pick gets rid of the answer related to the finger," Allura explained.

"Oh," Keith said, looking at the options. He decided to cut off the third finger; Hunk opted for the fourth.

"Seriously, though, have you used Tinder, Lance?" Hunk asked.

"Am I single? Yes. Does that mean I use dating apps? No," Lance replied.

"Really?" Keith questioned, "You're nice, and not that bad looking."

"O-Oh, uh," Lance stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "thanks..."

"Quiet over there in the lonely gallery, some of us are playing," Pidge called.

"Last I checked you don't have a girlfriend," Lance retorted.

"Shut up," Pidge shot back.

"'What letter wasn't used in the novel Gadsby?'" Allura loudly announced.

Keith noticed that Lance looked slightly upset; even going so far as to pout. Keith felt a sort of tug in his chest looking at Lance, though he wasn't entirely sure why. He just wanted to get rid of the pout.

"Keith, pick an answer," Shiro reminded him, pulling Keith out of his observation of Lance. Sure enough, where the third answer would be, there was a finger blocking it off. He picked 'e', and waited for the results.

"Holy shit you got it right!" Lance exclaimed as Keith was the only safe player.

"What the hell?! How do you avoid using 'e'?!" Pidge screamed.

"Ohhhhhh, the arena. Pidge is a toss up between taking the money and attacking, and Allura always picks attack. Just thought I'd throw that out there," Lance whispered to Keith and Hunk.

Keith picked to attack Pidge. He found that Shiro and Allura had attacked each other, Hunk defended himself, and Pidge took the money.

"Wow Keith, and I thought we were starting to be friends," Pidge fake cried.

"How tense," Hunk commented, "We're the only players left alive."

"Yeah. Kind of exciting," Keith said.

The next question asked 'Where is Bohemia?'

"Isn't that where the rhapsody is?" Lance asked with a smirk.

_"Oh my god,"_ Pidge groaned.

Both Keith and Hunk got the answer wrong and were placed on the Killing Floor again.

"I like the drawing game; I'm a little jealous that I can't play," Allura said, reading the prompt of 'alien' on the screen.

"You like it because you can draw. Which is totally unfair," Pidge grumbled.

"Aww, is the little Pidgeon sad that they can't draw?" Lance teased, earning himself a death glare.

The two drawings that were on screen were both bad that everyone started to laugh. On the left was a typical gray alien with messy lines, with a stick figure arm and hand raised in a wave. On the right was the alien from Predator. The Predator drawing was the same as the gray alien; with messy lines and uneven teeth.

"Oooooh, who sucks enough that they die?" Pidge wondered, eagerly waiting for the results.

"Shiro, you have to pick one," Keith said, seeing his brother was the only one left who hadn't decided.

"I know! But I can't decide," He said, looking between both drawings, "they're not that bad."

"Just pick; the timer's almost done."

Shiro nervously tapped his screen and looked at the tv with everyone for the tally. The gray alien had the most votes.

"Aw, what?!" Keith yelled as he watched his doll be murdered.

"That was you? Oh my god; that gray alien was so bad it was adorable," Lance laughed.

"Did I win?" Hunk asked, curious of his status.

"Not yet. There's the final round where it's just rapid multiple choice questions. You answer them to move forward. Anyone dead can catch up and take the lead from you," Allura explained.

Keith saw Pidge grin as they leaned forward holding their phone. Allura followed Pidge's example and looked at her phone with determination. Keith answered the best he could, even taking the lead from Hunk and holding it for a few questions before Pidge took first.

"I win! The queen of trivia still holds her crown!" Pidge exclaimed as the credits began to roll.

"'HunkyMonkey. Choked in the end.' That's fair," Hunk said, reading the 'cause of death' of his doll.

"'Keith. Bad at art.' The gray alien is a classic," Keith mumbled.

"Do you still want to play, Lance?" Allura asked, her eyes following Lance to the kitchen as he grabbed a drink from the fridge.

"Nah, it was fun enough seeing you guys play. Can we switch to a movie?" He asked.

"Sure. What did you bring?"

Lance set down his drink and reached for a small store bag sitting next to the larger bag filled with snacks. Reaching in, he pulled out about seven different cases and laid them out neatly for the others to see.

"I brought movies so get over here if you wanna pick," Lance announced.

Keith stood up from the couch and walked over to where Lance had laid the movies. Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro followed after him, crowding around him to read the titles. Lance had brought: Mulan, Lilo and Stitch, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Brother Bear, and Treasure Planet.

"Nice picks," Pidge commented.

"Thanks, I try my best," Lance said, drinking from the can of soda he pulled out.

"Mulan is a favorite of mine; can we watch Mulan?" Allura asked.

"Sure, you're the owner of the house, so you really get final say," Lance said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Allura quickly apologized looking to the others, "I wanted to ask what you all wanted to watch."

"It's fine, Allura. Lance is right. We're here because you invited us, so it's only fair we let you pick the movie," Shiro pointed out, assuring Allura she was ok.

"Alright, time to learn how to be a man; Sit your butts down and I'll get this started," Lance announced, grabbing the case and walking over to the tv.

Making their way back to the couches, Lance put in the DVD in the small DVD player beneath the tv and grabbed the remote next to it. He took his spot back on the floor as he skipped past all the ads for other movies.

"Nice opening," Keith commented as he watched the opening scene of a scroll being painted with ink and filled with color transition into the first scene of the movie. Keith also liked how the signal fire the wall guard lit was animated.

"'Now all of China knows you're a douchebag.'" Pidge dubbed over, causing Lance and Allura to snort.

Keith was then introduced to the heroine, Mulan. He found himself laughing softly at her antics and her father's reaction to her.

"I remember the grandma," Hunk chuckled, "she was hilarious."

"Grandma Fa is the best," Lance agreed.

Keith was enjoying the movie so far. The song that played when Mulan was getting ready for her meeting with the matchmaker was catchy. And he liked the design of Mulan's outfit. The meeting with the matchmaker, however, went comically but horrifically wrong thanks to the cricket the grandma gave her. Even though the matchmaker's yelling wasn't directed at himself, Keith still felt like he was in Mulan's position. He felt bad for her as she headed home and saw the look of disappointment on her parent's faces.

"This song is sad but it's one of my favorites," Lance commented, drinking from his soda again as Mulan started to sing.

Keith listened to how Mulan was conveying her sadness. He could feel that Mulan was trying her hardest for her parent's sake but still failed. Keith could relate; he had caused his parents nothing but grief when he first arrived. Shiro wasn't safe from him either. He guessed it was some type of weird resentment that Shiro was biological and had living parents, compared to Keith who didn't even have a memory of them. Nothing. Well, he had something now.

"Wait so, Mulan is gonna pretend to be a guy?" Hunk asked as they all watched Mulan leave home.

"Yep. Her dad is too important to her; she knows he wouldn't come home if he went so she's sacrificing herself instead," Pidge explained.

"She's gonna learn how to kick so much ass," Lance sighed happily.

"So...she's your type?" Keith asked.

"I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass," Lance responded immediately, "Or man. Either, really."

"Dude, Mulan is my girlfriend how about you bippity boppity back the fuck up?" Pidge cut in.

"Sorry, sorry," Lance laughed.

Keith found something familiar about Lance and Pidge's interaction. They reminded him of a pair of siblings that knew each other as the back of their hand. If they were this friendly with each other, Keith could only imagine how Lance was with his siblings and how Pidge was with their brother Matt.

"Does...Shang really have to take off his shirt?" Hunk questioned.

"I dunno, but I don't mind at all," Lance replied.

With the training montage, Keith saw where the song Allura, Pidge, and Lance sang back at the movies. It was incredibly catchy, and the scenes where the army was still lackluster were comedic. As the movie went on, Keith heard buzzing; looking down to where Lance was sitting, he saw Lance was texting someone. Reading the top of the screen, he saw the name 'Rolo.' Curiosity screamed at him and took control as he glanced down and read what he could see on the screen.

'You ok?'

'What do you mean?'

'You got pissed at the movies is what I mean.'

'No shit. Allura and Pidge may know what's going on but the other guys didn't. And you saying all that shit and calling me El Niño wasn't helping.'

'Shit. I'm sorry :('

'Forget it. It's fine.'

'I'm sorry, man. But you know we've all got your back, yeah? Everyone asks about you.'

'And what do you tell them?'

'I just tell them that you're doin fine with your job and all.'

'Ok.'

'You should visit sometime. We're family, y'know.'

'I guess. But if he's still there then hell no.'

'We got rid of him. Me and a few of the oldies cleared everything up.'

'How?'

'Don't worry bout it. He's gone now. I know you probably don't think it, but everyone misses you. You're like the official little bro.'

'Are you high?'

'Yeah why'

'You don't get this mushy unless you're stoned as shit.'

'Lol. You down to swing by for a few drinks later?'

'No, I'm with Allura.'

'Bummer. Have fun though.'

Lance released a sigh as he put away his phone. Keith quickly refocused himself to watching the movie and act as natural as he could. Judging by the sudden somber mood of Mulan alone on a snowy mountain, Keith figured they were nearing the end of the movie.

"Poor Mulan..." Shiro commented.

The mood didn't last for long as a hand shot out of the snow.

"There's no way he should've survived that. All that snow landing on him at the velocity it did should've buried him feet under it and then he would've died from frostbite," Hunk said as Shan-Yu rose from the snow.

"Yeah, realistically you'd be right," Pidge agreed, "But this is Disney dude. Disney magic."

"Yeah, you're right," Hunk conceded.

Keith watched as Mulan headed back to the city and tried to warn Shang that Shan-Yu was alive but was cast aside simply because she was a woman.

"She's right," Keith started, "She's still the best soldier, why is he treating her like that?"

"Uh, she's a girl, dude," Lance responded, "Girls at that time period were expected to be meek and compliant. It's what she was agreeing to be when she tried to make the matchmaker like her."

"Oh...that's brave of her," Keith said.

Lance hummed in reply as the movie proceeded.

"The emperor better not give her shit. She saved all their asses," Keith said as the emperor approached Mulan after she had taken down Shan-Yu. He was happy as the emperor bowed before her and the entire crowd followed suit. Keith heard a sniffle from the floor as Mulan reunited with her father at home. He stole a glance at Lance to see a single tear leak from his eye and watched it disappear just as quickly.

"That was a good movie," Shiro said as the credits started playing.

"Still weirds me out that Eddie Murphy is Mushu," Allura commented.

"But he does make some parts better for comedic relief," Pidge replied.

"But will anything ever top his role as Donkey?" Lance questioned.

"Shit, you're right," Pidge responded.

"Oh my god, you have to bring Shrek next time we do this," Allura cut in, grinning at Lance.

"Well," Hunk said, standing up to stretch, "thank you for inviting me, Allura. I had a really nice time."

"Aw, you're leaving?" Allura asked.

"Yeah, I, uh...have a date tomorrow..."

"Dude congrats!" Lance exclaimed, jumping up from his spot on the floor to give Hunk a one-armed hug, "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Um," Hunk mumbled, a pink flush spreading on his cheeks, "I-it's with Shay."

"Ooh, the barista? She's cute and super sweet; the perfect match for you! I'm happy for you!" Lance grinned.

"Thanks," Hunk laughed sheepishly.

"Well go on, lover boy, you got a big day tomorrow!" Lance giggled, gently pushing Hunk towards the door.

"Y-yeah, thanks again Allura; bye you guys!" Hunk yelled as he went out the door.

"I'm still in the mood for another movie," Pidge said.

"How about Lilo and Stitch?" Allura suggested, "I mean, if that's alright with you," she added, looking at Shiro and Keith.

"I don't mind. Keith?" Shiro responded.

"Oh, sure."

"Great!" Allura exclaimed. She went to grab the movie from the table Lance left them on, "Do any of you want something to eat? I can grab it while I'm over here."

"I'll take a soda and chips," Pidge called.

"I'll take something a little stronger," Shiro said.

"I'll take a soda since I'm driving home, apparently," Keith said, giving Shiro a small glare.

"I can get something for myself later," Lance called.

Allura came back with each item everyone asked and handed them off before heading to the tv.

"Heads up," Allura called before tossing Mulan towards Lance. Placing the DVD in, Allura headed back to her seat.

"You mind if I sit next to you?" Lance asked, looking at Keith.

"No..?" Keith replied.

"Cool," Lance smiled as he plopped down on the spot where Hunk was sitting. Keith took his seat, but wasn't sure why he felt stiff.

"This is one of my favorites. I just love Lilo!" Allura squealed as the Disney castle logo appeared on screen.

Keith was surprised that the movie opened in space. Specifically, on a trial for a mad scientist and his alien creation. Keith looked at the creature with interest. It was cute, but he considered it not quite what an alien would look like. An alien would be more like the aliens sitting at the table judging the scientist, Jumba. The movie moved on to a shot of fish and melodic singing starting. Off to his side, he heard Lance humming along to the song.

The movie went on, and Lilo's sister, Nani, was introduced. Keith then learned that Nani was the only person taking care of Lilo since their parents died. He felt himself bristle and leaned a little closer towards Shiro.

_'Lilo is like...me, in a way.'_ Keith thought. Keith startled slightly at the hand that patted his shoulder. He looked at Shiro who gave him a melancholic smile. Keith reflected on his parents. Their dad had died when Keith was young, and their mom had passed away not to many years ago. He was grateful that he and Shiro weren't totally alone, but he thought about if their mom was with dad instead of Shiro. Keith took a breath and focused on the movie.

"Everyone's kinda dumb if they think Stitch is dog. I mean, what dog looks blue and has ears that big?" Pidge commented.

"Disney magic," Allura said simply.

"I know."

The movie continued, and Keith admitted that he enjoyed it. He liked the dynamic of Lilo trying to train Stitch to behave. Keith also liked that Stitch seemed to actually be learning how to be good rather than comply with his natural destructive nature. Keith admired how David, Nani's co-worker, showed care and concern for the two sisters. The sisters and David decided to surf away their troubles after a terrible day of Nani failing to find a new job after being fired from her previous one and Lilo training Stitch. In the middle of their surfing montage, Keith felt a weight gently press itself on his shoulder. Looking downwards, Lance had fallen asleep and fell on his shoulder.

_'Oh my god.'_ Keith thought as he observed Lance's face. The light from the tv cast shadows on his face, highlighting all of Lance's facial features. The light freckles that were on his face, his long lashes that spread in a wide fan across his cheeks. The bags he remembered seeing seemed to disappear. Keith could feel his face grow warm and his heart beat quicker; he didn't even realize his breath was trapped in his lungs until he let out a slow and steady breath. A quick glance to the rest of Lance's body showed he was in an odd position with his neck stretched and his body still. Keith gently placed an arm around Lance's shoulder, testing if Lance was a heavy sleeper or light sleeper. When Lance didn't stir, Keith gently pulled him closer to make him more comfortable. Keith didn't see a reason to further move, so he left his arm on Lance's shoulder and continued watching the movie.

The rest of the movie seemed to blur past Keith. He could only focus on Lance's weight on his shoulder and the soft breathing he strained to hear amidst the movie. When the movie ended, Keith removed his arm and watched as Allura and Shiro stood up to stretch. Pidge had fallen asleep as well, as Keith saw them curled in on themselves and snoozing on the chair.

"I think we should call this a night," Allura said, yawning in between her words. She looked to Keith and Shiro and saw Lance on Keith's shoulder. She looked at him and Keith and Keith felt nervous at the grin that spread across her face. Allura walked over and shook Lance awake.

"Gh-wha-what?! I'm up!" Lance yelled as he slapped away Allura's hand. Lance yawned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"You fell asleep, Lance," Allura started, sending Keith a sly grin before speaking again, "And you fell asleep on poor Keith's shoulder."

"I what?" Lance asked as he blearily looked between Keith and Allura.

"You snoozed on Keith's shoulder," Allura repeated.

Lance looked at Allura before slowly looking at Keith. Keith could see the gears turn in Lance's head before he seemed to fully wake up at the realization.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!! I was probably really heavy," Lance yelped, avoiding looking at Keith, "You could've just shoved me off; I'm a pretty heavy sleeper."

"Oh, I-don't worry about it," Keith said, "I was too busy watching the movie to care."

Allura shook her head out of the corner of Keith's vision, fighting to keep a smile off her face.

"I think we'll be heading home now. Thank you for inviting us," Shiro interceded.

"Right. It was my pleasure having you," Allura said, giving Shiro a warm smile.

Keith stood up and felt his joints pop as he stretched. He walked towards the main door as Shiro walked behind him. Allura and Lance followed them both, deciding to see them off.

"Hey, Allura," Lance yawned, "d'you mind if I crash here? I don't trust myself to drive home."

"When have I ever had a problem with that? You left some stuff behind last time you were here anyway; you basically sort of live here too."

"Yeah..."

Keith stopped a few feet short of the door. He turned to face Allura and Lance.

"Thanks again," he said, stifling a yawn.

"You don't have to thank me! I should be thanking you both for coming," she said.

"Have a good night, Allura, Lance," Shiro said, giving the two a small smile.

"G'night," Keith said.

"Drive safe," Allura replied.

Good night...Keith," Lance said before rushing back towards the tv area.

As Keith headed outside, he felt the cool night air blow before he got in the driver's seat. Once Shiro got in, he started the car and drove them home. While driving, he thought about today. It had been fun, that much was certain. He was hoping for more chances like this to appear in the future.

Then there was Lance. His hatred for Lotor, his discomfort with Rolo, and the weird texts he got from Rolo. Then the name Rolo was calling him by. 'El Niño.' And then Lance fell asleep on him. He wasn't heavy; Lance was actually pretty light. And Keith didn't mind. Keith actually was able to learn a bit more about Lance.

_'What's he talented at that he earned that name? And...'_ Keith's thoughts stopped as he pulled into their house's driveway. Heading to his room he quickly changed into his pj's and stared at the ceiling. His mind drifted to seeing Lance asleep on his shoulder. His long lashes, the freckles under his eyes. Lance looked so peaceful. And then he remembered putting his arm around him.

_'Why did I put my arm around him?'_ Keith thought as he felt embarrassment creep under his skin. But he felt that was the right thing to do at the time. So why is he feeling embarrassed about it?

Keith thought about his arm on a sleeping Lance's shoulder until he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi sorry for taking so long with this but life, writers block and depression isn't fun. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and continue following this fic! 
> 
> [remember to rate the fic, comment the fic and subscribe for more fics similar to this one, see ya]


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